Associated Press
Rent Way Survives Despite Odds
"The Erie-based business can count itself among a unique class of publicly traded companies that stayed standing after such a scandal..."more

Video
Aaron Rents founder Charlie Loudermilk working on exploratory committee for Andrew Young (D) Senate bid
The former Atlanta mayor and UN Ambassador is considering running to replace Democrat Zell Miller who announced he will not seek reelection...more

Audio
Morgenstern Speaks On Rent Way's Future
Best quote
"Make no mistake about it, the rent to own market will see this sleeping giant awaken"...more

Rainbow Rentals To Host Customer Appreciation Day at All 123 Locations
Terry Polonsky
Director of Advertising
"We host events like the Customer Appreciation Cookout primarily to thank customers for doing business with Rainbow...more

Rent a Center Continues to Set New Highs
Rent a Center (RCII) set another 52 week high Wednesday, closing at $82.33 per share, up $1.13...more

Whirlpool Reports 9% Net Sales Increase In Q2
David R. Whitwam
Chairman and chief executive officer
"This performance reflects the solid contributions from our global businesses and brands, including the introductions of innovative new products worldwide...more

Furniture Brands Reports Decline For Q2
Mickey Holliman
Chairman, President and CEO
"...we see nothing, either in our order trends or in our conversations with retailers, that leads us to believe a near-term sustainable rebound in business is in sight"...more

Former Rent Way Execs Face Up To 10 Years in Prison
In a statement issued by United States Attorney Mary Beth Buchanan, the law provides for a maximum total sentence for Conway of five years in prison, a fine of $250,000, or both...more

USA Today
Big Bird say's NO to RTO
PBS Launching 'Sesame Street for Adults'...encourages viewers "resist the allure of rent to own shops"...more

Most Recent
More Than a Billion Colors on Display in New Pioneer Plasma TV
Russ Johnston
Senior vice president of marketing for home entertainment
"As one of the early developers of plasma technology, Pioneer has leaped ahead of our competitors in terms of image quality."...more

HOT
SEC Details Conway involvement
Beginning in December 1998, Conway directed Marini to do whatever was necessary to ensure that Rent Way met its earnings guidance but not to tell Conway how he was meeting the earnings guidance so that Conway could maintain "plausible deniability" (i.e., the ability to deny direct knowledge of the misconduct). Beginning in December 1999, Marini told Conway the details of his fraudulent conduct and continued to discuss with Conway details of his ongoing efforts to meet the Company's earnings guidance. Conway condoned and encouraged Marini's actions...more

Website Review
Rentacenter.com Misses the Mark
Rent a Center is unquestionably the 400 pound gorilla of the RTO industry, unfortunately that leadership does not extend to the web...more

Buffalo New York Rent a Center Robbed
The suspect claimed to have a gun, but did not show a weapon. He got away with 7,000 dollars...more

Rent-Way Announces Completion of Government Investigation
SEC and U.S. Attorney Investigation Completed; No Financial Penalty Imposed Against Rent-WayConway, Marini, Underwood Plead Guilty...more

Aaron Rents Declares 3 for 2 Stock Split
R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
"The larger number of shares that will be outstanding as a result of this stock split should increase float and the trading volume in our stock to the further benefit of shareholders...more

Latest NPD Study Reports Rising Popularity of Digital Cameras
Sales figures from NPD indicate a 26 percent increase in digital camera dollar sales in the past twelve months

La-Z-Boy to Report 10% Decline For Quarter
Jerry Kiser
La-Z-Boy president and CEO
"Demand during the quarter has remained sluggish, reflective of a continuing softness at the retail level"...more

Rent to Own Heroes
5 Maryland Rent a Center employees lift an SUV so a toddler who had been run over could be removed from under the vehicle...more

New study
55% of U.S. Households Can Watch a DVD Movie; Only Two-Thirds of Them Have a Regular DVD Console Player
16% of all households have a DVD console only and no other DVD devices; 7% have a DVD ROM only, 5.4% have a DVD-enabled Video Game system only and 2.5% have only a Portable DVD player...more

Florida
Suspect attempts to hotwire Rent a Center truck after failed carjacking

Toshiba Recalls Rear Projection Televisions
Toshiba America announced the recall of 3,400 rear projection televisions...more

Gateway Launches Digital TV Line
Gateway, Inc. today announced its entry in the LCD TV market and additions to its plasma TV line...more

Sealy Q2 Sales Down 10%; Net loss for quarter For the quarter
David J. McIlquham
Sealy's president and chief executive officer
"Sales in the second quarter were down as expected due to the restructuring of our former affiliates, continued weak economic conditions ...more

Updated Links!
RTO Online has updated the Links section of the site. Features include; Select content organized by subject. Over 50 categories of useful links. Add a link feature is active in all categories. You can add your favorite links with just a few clicks!..more

Rent to Own Internal Control
A Preventive Maintenance Program
You read about this in every newspaper in every town in the entire country: Some bookkeeper, trusted by the owner of a small business, embezzles thousands of dollars. If the theft doesn’t put owner out of business, it certainly causes a major headache. Rent to Own businesses are not immune to these situations...more

Legislative Update
2 More House Democrats Cosponsors HR996; Total at 76
HR 996: Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
2 more House Democrats, James Clyburn (D-SC) and James Moran (D-VA) signed on as co-sponsors of HR996, the Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act...more

Rent-A-Center Announces Closing of Share Repurchase
Total of 2,544,507 shares of its common stock repurchased ...more

U.S. Furniture Makers Seek Protection From China Imports
A group of American makers of wood bedroom furniture is preparing to seek protection from the U.S. government to stem a surge of imports from China that the companies say has ravaged their industry...more

Maytag Q2 Sales Down
Maytag Corporation (NYSE:MYG) today announced its second quarter sales and earnings were down versus a year ago, but in line with management and Wall Street expectations...more

Switzerland
Farmer Offers Rental Cows on Internet
Lovers of fine cheeses are being given the chance to hire their own cheesemaker...more

Aaron Rents Names Michael P. Ryan Vice President, Northern Operations
R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr.
Chairman and CEO
"Due to the rapid growth of the Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership Division we have added this new Vice President position, our second new addition this year, bringing to five our number of regional vice presidents...more

Maytag Appoints George C. Moore as Executive VP and CFO
Moore's appointment is effective immediately. He succeeds Steven H. Wood, who has left the company to pursue other opportunities...more

Lane Home Furnishings Announces New Furniture Collection Launch
Lane Home Furnishings announced today that it has entered into a licensing agreement with the National Geographic Society to produce a furniture collection inspired by the world travels...more

10 Rent to Own Truths
Four score and a 47 million BOR ago, our fathers brought forth to this continent a new industry. They held these truths to be self evident...more

Recommended Reading
Jeffrey Gitomer
The seven deadly hiring sins

How Will the No Call List Affect Collections?
Consumers are registering with the National Do Not Call Registry by the millions. How will this new Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), administered by the FTC affect your relationship with existing rental customers?..more

Chief Executives’ Confidence in the Nation’s Economy Has Improved
Chief executives are also more upbeat about business conditions over the next six months...more

Survey
62% of Women Have Mentors
64% of women reported that their most important mentors have been males...more

President Bush Signs Baker-Oxley Bill;
Strengthens SEC to Deliver on Corporate Accountability Pledge
Michael G. Oxley (R-OH)
House Financial Services Committee Chairman
“This bill delivers on the promise that Congress and the President made last year to rebuild investor confidence in the U.S. markets by enacting far-reaching corporate reforms...more

RTO Enterprises to Begin Trading Under New Symbol 'EH'
This essentially completes the brand transition with all store banners trading under a single identity...more

Winstead Assists Rent-A-Center in the $900 Million Refinancing of Its Debt And Equity Structure
Winstead Sechrest & Minick is among the largest business law firms in Texas with more than 330 attorneys and 28 practice areas...more

Leading Furniture Software Giant 'GERS' Acquired By Symphony Technology Group
"This is a very exciting time for our company," said Jim Henderson, CEO and president of GERS Retail Systems. "Our emphasis on customer satisfaction and product innovation is driving an increase in demand across all of our products in multiple retail sectors...more

Pioneer Selects Rubin Postaer For Home Entertainment Advertising Campaign
Pioneer will continue to work with long-term partner BBDO West on its mobile entertainment lifestyle advertising campaigns. The "Disturb" campaign created by BBDO for the mobile entertainment division, which includes print, television and a significant online component, was awarded the Macromedia "Site of the Day"...more

Historic First
Notebooks Outsell Desktops and LCD Monitors Unit Sales Surpass CRT Monitors in May
According to recently released sales results from The NPD Group's point-of-sale tracking service, May 2003 marked the first time that the dollar sales of notebook computers sold surpassed the dollar sales of desktop computers in U.S. retailers...more

New Survey
Internet Usage on the Rise, With More Consumers Logging on Daily
The latest survey reports some primary shifts in why people go online and how often they do so...more

Rent Rite Moves West
Rent Rite Becomes 5th Largest Rental Chain with Rarick’s Acquisition
Ed Stanko
President, CEO and Rent Rite co-founder
"We are very pleased with the acquisition of Rarick’s Easy Pay. The Mullins family ran a first-class operation. We now have a major presence in the Indiana market, our first non-Atlantic coast market, which positions Rent Rite to continue its rapid expansion into the rest of the eastern United States...more

4:00 pm
Flash
Aaron Rents Issues Press Release Regarding Acquisitions
R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr.
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron Rents
"We are very pleased to make these acquisitions and plan to aggressively pursue further transactions as they become available...more

Flash
Aaron Rents Acquires Ace Locations
Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma
UPDATE: The total number of stores acquired from ACE is 34...more

Rainbow Rentals Ad Agency Says Clean Lists and Smart Outreach are Keys To Overcoming Smudge Against Telemarketing
Mike Butlien
Innis Maggiore's director of data analysis
"The FTC action spotlights the difference between smart direct marketing and poor direct marketing...more

Recommended Reading
Dallas Business Journal
Are you confident enough to lose control?
Your employees may be too scared and oppressed to complain. And that could be disastrous for your business...more

Pioneer Introduces World's First DVD Recorders With TiVo(R) Service
Russ Johnston
Senior VP Marketing Pioneer Electronics
"Pioneer is setting the standard for value-added DVD recorders by including the TiVo service with these two new products...more

Legislative Update
11 New House Cosponsors HR996; Total at 74
HR 996: Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
11 more Representatives signed on as co-sponsors of HR996, the Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act, bringing the grand total to 74, plus main sponsor Rep. Walter Jones (R -SC)...more

Zacks Issues Buy Recommendation on Rent-A-Center
"Over the past three months, Rent-A-Center's earnings estimates for this year and next have improved by approximately +6% and +9% respectively, with analysts expecting next year's results to be about +16% better than this year's...more

RTO Around the Globe
Exclusive
Australia
Renting and Collecting in Oz
Interview with Jason Wyllie, GM of Pabs; Australia's largest rental company
Jason told RTO Online, "Pabs was the first furniture rental company in Australia and one of the first furniture rental companies in the world. The first Pabs began renting 'beds and fridges' in Melbourne in 1962...more

Bassett Posts Second Consecutive Double Digit Sales Slide Due to ..."Industry Wide Soft Retail Conditions"
Robert H. Spilman Jr.
President and CEO
"Earnings continue to be a challenge in this tough economic and industry environment...more

I Love This Business!
By Samantha Whitten
"...I think RTO is one of the most useful and valuable services ever conceived...more

RTO Founding Father Ernie Talley Dies at 68
Ernie Talley, former CEO of Rent a Center and founding father of the rent to own industry, passed away Saturday morning at 8 a.m. after having been admitted to the hospital for a stroke. He had been battling cancer for some time. Services are Tuesday morning, 10:00am at the family's parish church in Pilot Point, TX...more

Memories of Ernie Talley
Mr. T.,  Fixing Problems and Helping People
By Bud Holladay
All around good guy
Rent a Center
In the early days, Ernie had 14 or 15 stores and little margin for error. So he spent a lot of time in the field. When he visited a store in a Midwestern city that had been on the bottom for way too long, his first act wasn't to talk to the manager or read reports...more

Memories of Ernie Talley
"No Smoking"
By Jay Roberts
VP Operations
National TV Sales and Rental
A couple of men came into the store, casually dressed and one of them was smoking a cigar. Unbeknownst to the Manager one of the men was Ernie Talley...more

Rent-a-Center Announces Preliminary Results of Tender Offer
Company to repurchase 2.5 million shares @ $73...more

Memories of Ernie Talley
You Made a Difference
Anonymous Store Manager
Rent a Center
Mr. Talley was a great man who not only started RTO, but is largely responsible for the high standard of living we at Rent a Center enjoy...more

Hitachi Launches New LCD HDTV
The Home Electronics Division of Hitachi America Ltd., announced the availability of its new Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) HDTV product line...more

Motivated Marketing to show Yamaha Electronics at the upcoming APRO Show
Thomas Murphy
President of Motivated Marketing
"This is the first APRO show that Yamaha will be shown and I am very excited to be the company that does it"...more