Maytag Rebuffs Whirlpool Bid; Whirlpool Urges Board To Reconsider Offer
"Our proposal clearly provides superior value to Maytag's shareholders, and we are confident it will receive regulatory approval. We have offered to present our case to the Maytag board and its advisors...more

ACE Cash Express To Offer Longer Term Loans; Move To Satisfy New FDIC Guidelines
"This new installment loan product gives our best customers, who have demonstrated credit worthiness with shorter term loans, a longer term loan solution" - Jay B. Shipowitz, President and CEO of ACE...more

LFC Announces Lending Program for NEW RTO Store Owners
Bill Lassiter, of Lynnray Financial Corp.,  is excited to offer a new lending program designed to assist RTO store owners who are in the beginning stages of their business...more

Ideal Software Notes Increased ROC Conversions
While Ideal Software Systems has data conversions available from all leading rent to own systems, in the past several months Ideal has seen an increase in ROC conversions including: Continental Rentals (15 stores, MI), Great Rentals (3 stores, NY), and Mikes TV (3 stores, KS)... more

Rent-Way Webcast Scheduled
A link to the live webcast will is available from My RTO Portfolio...more

Spak Resigns as President and CEO of Lane Furniture; Foy To Handle Day to Day
Spak will remain on the company's payroll pursuant to a previously-announced employment agreement, but he has relinquished his day-to-day responsibilities...more

Whirlpool Reports Record Q2 Sales; Higher Material Costs Have Big Impact
"We are pleased with our global operating performance given the significant magnitude of the material cost increases in the second quarter and throughout the first half of the year" - Jeff M. Fettig, Whirlpool's chairman, president and chief executive officer...more

RTO Dealers Get Into The Groove With Yamaha
"We created a program that offers Yamaha’s quality instruments to consumers at a competitive price, while rent-to-own dealers get a healthy profit margin and delivery to multiple locations" - Tom Murphy, Motivated Marketing, Inc...move

Stanley Furniture Posts Record Sales
"Higher sales, increased production levels and operating efficiencies are helping to offset higher costs" - Jeffrey R. Scheffer, chairman, president and CEO...more

Whirlpool Makes Bid To Acquire Maytag
"Our proposal represents a "Company Takeover Proposal" ...it is more favorable to Maytag shareholders from a financial point of view than the pending sale" - Jeff Fettig, CEO of Whirpool in a letter to Maytag CEO Ralph Hake...more

Editorial
Economic Cleansing Southern Style; Kentucky City Attempts To Ban "Legal But Unwelcome" Businesses Including Rent to Own Stores
Daniel Boone abandoned Kentucky 200 years ago when his land was taken away because he refused to kiss the west end of some eastbound politicians. Amazing how little some things change in 200 years...more

Consumer Confidence Drops Sharply In July; Worries About Gas Prices, Job Security, Terrorism
The RBC CASH Index stands at 73.9, down from 84.0 one month ago. This decrease drops consumer confidence to the lowest point in 2005, and represents the lowest level since October 2003...more

EZCORP To Offer "fee-based advice and assistance" in 177 Texas Locations
Effective July 15, 2005, the 177 EZMoney stores located in Texas, which have been marketing payday loans for County Bank, will cease providing these services...more

CheckCash USA Converts To Family Financial Centers
"This [conversion] will facilitate Family Financial Centers' launch of a stand alone payday loan center to compliment our full service financial center locations" - Paul W. Eckert, President and founder of Family Financial Centers...more

Study Finds 35% Of Americans Unbanked; Alternative Financial Services Increasingly Used By Middle Class
Main reasons why many consumers don't use traditional banks include the following: they don't write enough checks to make an account economical, don't trust/don't like dealing with banks, don't have enough money, and service charges are too high...more

Maytag Stockholders to Vote on Merger August 19th
Maytag stockholders would receive $14.00 in cash for each of their shares of Maytag common stock...more

Design Firm GRID2 Says Poor Merchandising Limits Sales
Make it beautiful, make it understandable and make it credible, the design gurus say...more

Chief Executives’ Confidence Declines
Approximately 44 percent of CEOs claim current economic conditions have improved, down from nearly 59 percent last quarter...more

Study Finds Women Fare Best in Women-Led Companies; Women Executives Make 15-20% More in Women-Led Firms
"If equity for high-skilled and performing women is a policy goal, then the one obvious instrument is affirmative action at the very top of the corporate hierarchy." - Haverford College Economics Professor Linda Bell...more

Electronics Manufacturers Want Hard Deadline For DTV Transition; Fear Dramatic Price Increases If Schedule Is Accelerated
"CEA shares concerns about disenfranchising consumers, but the data shows the number of consumers in this category has been exaggerated" - Gary Shapiro, CEA President and CEO...more

Dorel RTA Furniture Division Facing Challenges
"Our ready-to-assemble-furniture business faces a number of challenges, most significantly manufacturing inefficiencies, which are being addressed" - Dorel President and CEO, Martin Schwartz...more

The Alan White Company Sees Las Vegas Market As Key To Western Expansion
"Our participation in the debut of Las Vegas Market really signifies a turning point for the Alan White Company, as we begin to establish our company’s presence west of the Rockies" - Keith Feuerhaken, executive vice president of sales and marketing...more

Sealy Reports Revenue Up 12.4%
In addition, the company expects gross profit to be $157.1 million, an increase of 15.0%...more

Aaron's Associates Raise $100,000 for Victory Junction Gang; Aaron's Dream Machine driver Michael Waltrip makes $1 million donation
"What the Petty family has been able to achieve on 75 acres of land in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad is nothing short of miraculous and Aaron's is both humbled and honored by our association with the camp" - Ken Butler, President, Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership...more

Advance America Details North Carolina Operational Changes
"In connection with this change, the Company continues to expect that it will retain approximately 60-80% of its revenue in Pennsylvania, Arkansas, and North Carolina"...more

Rent-A-Center Q2 Conference Call Set For July 26
Audio of the call will be broadcast live. A link to the live webcast will be available from My RTO Portfolio...more

easyhome's David Ingram Named Finalist For Entrepreneur Of The Year Award
The awards honor entrepreneurs who have demonstrated excellence and extraordinary success in areas such as innovation, risk taking, company development, financial performance, and personal commitment to their businesses and communities...more

Aaron Rents Announces Monthly Sweepstakes Winners
"We are thankful to have reached the half-century milestone and are thrilled to share this moment with some lucky winners" - Mark Rudnick, Vice President of Marketing for Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership...more

Rent-One Raises $15,000 For Ronald McDonald House
In December Larry Carrico was elected as a director of Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of St Louis. He serves on the Community Development Committee and is primarily responsible for getting the word out to local communities about RMHC's services...more

The Wow Factor Key To Increasing LCD And Plasma Rentals
By Mike Bertolani
"For consumers, the decision to rent a large LCD or Plasma is combination of price and the WOW factor" - Mike Bertolani, SED International...more

The Right Tool; Ispirian helps working law student find durable, reliable notebook in the form of the Twinhead Durabook
Unlike most notebooks, which are designed for ideal computing environments, Twinhead Durabooks are born to be rugged, ready for operation under a range of adverse conditions...more

Shipments of Portable Multimedia Players to Top 13 Million Units by 2010; Lack of Content to Slow Adoption
"The PMP market will not experience the rapid growth typical of portable MP3 players" - Harry Wang, research analyst at Parks Associates...more

Gary Hughes To Retire; Largest ColorTyme Franchisee Sells 27 Stores to Rent-A-Center
"Being a ColorTyme franchisee has given me the opportunity to turn my dream into a reality where my employees have opportunities to build their own careers and realize their own dreams" - Gary Hughes...more

Bestway Same Store Revenue Up 10.2%; Eleven Consecutive Quarterly Increase
We have achieved eleven straight quarters of same store revenue growth which has returned the Company to profitability" - David A. Kraemer, President and Chief Executive Officer...more

Consumer Electronics Industry Trends Explored by More than 120 Top Industry Executives at the Ninth Annual CEO Summit
"Staying connected to the outside world is a growing concern for most consumers"...more

Advance America Announces Operational Changes; FDIC Guidelines Force Business Model Changes
"Advance America expects that it will retain approximately 60-80% of its revenue in the states where it will continue to act as a marketing, processing, and servicing agent for lending banks"...more

Hiring Slows In All US Regions
"The biggest obstacle to more hiring is the increase in labor costs relative to the rate of price increases" - Ken Goldstein, Labor Economist, The Conference Board’s...more

TNT Video & Rental Acquired By Alliance Rental Centers and Rent City
Texas based Alliance Rental Centers, owned by Kelly Sayre, and Rent City, owned by Robert Briley, have completed the acquisition of 8 stores from TNT Video & Rental owned by Dan and Tam Sharff. Alliance and Rent City each bought 4 stores...more

Triton To Maytag "Knock it off"; Maytag To Triton "Suck it up"
Triton Acquisition Holding Co. advised Maytag orally that Maytag's continued furnishing of information to and discussions with Bain, Blackstone and Haier America after 12:01 a.m. on June 18, 2005, gives Triton Acquisition Holding the right to terminate the Merger Agreement...more

Darin Coutu named Executive VP and CFO of Rentcash
"Coutu's background in financial services and public accounting, will be invaluable in taking Rentcash to the next level of growth and development" - Gordon Reykdal, Founder and CEO of RentCash...more

Bassett Furniture Direct Buoys Second Quarter Earnings
"Business conditions continue to be fairly tough at the retail level, especially in certain key markets" - Robert H. Spilman Jr., Bassett President and CEO...more

Texas Governor Perry Signs RTO Late Fee Bill; New Structure Effective Immediately
According to TARA officials, this bill was made effective immediately due to the overwhelming response and grass roots efforts of Texas rental dealers...more

ColorTyme Dealers Wrap Record Breaking Convention
The ColorTyme Convention wrapped Sunday with an appearance by "The King." Rhonda Davis, ColorTyme's Director of Sales, arranged the performance the performance by Elvis tribute artist Shawn Klush, who starred in the recent CBS miniseries "Shake Rattle and Roll."...more

DoorHangers And Postcards Key To Growing Jewelry Rentals
"Using M&B's seasonal POP materials, dealers will see an impressive growth in jewelry units on rent over a 12-month period" - Robby Tyson, National Sales Manager, M&B Jewelry...more

Rental Purchase Agreement Act; Flurry Of Support Follows Successful Committee Hearing
Coalition efforts in the Senate paid off recently when key democrat Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) co-sponsored S603, the Senate version of The Act...more

Identity Theft Concerns May Slow E-Commerce
Conducting financial transactions and purchasing products are online activities that produce the most apprehension among Internet users...more

Convention coverage
Gary Hughes Named 2005 ColorTyme Franchisee Of The Year (37 photos)
This is the fourth time Hughes has received the "Eagle Award", ColorTyme's highest honor...more

Convention coverage
ColorTyme Dealers Gather In Myrtle Beach For 2005 Convention (60 photos)
371 members of the extended ColorTyme family kicked off the companies 2005 Convention in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Wednesday...more

Rent-A-Center CEO Mark Speese Named  Southwest Entrepreneur Of The Year 2005
Speese began in the rent-to-own industry 26 years ago and started his own company in 1986 which built the foundation for today's Rent-A-Center. Under his leadership, the chain has grown to more than 2,860 stores...more

Payday Loan Association; "We Want Government Regulation"; Trade will tighten best practices until that happens
"In the absence of government regulation, we are acting voluntarily to fill the regulatory gap and adopting this stronger Code of Best Business Practices." - Bob Whitelaw President and CEO, CACFS...more

Premier’s Dynamite Duo Open Second Pennsylvania Store
After owning their own business less than a year Dave Jones and Rich Bagoly now have two Premier Rental-Purchase stores open with ambitious sales projections and a good track record for exceeding expectations...more

Bidding War For Maytag
"We continue to support the Ripplewood transaction; however, we also believe that it is incumbent on us to pursue this possibility of achieving a higher price for our stockholders" - Howard Clark, Maytag's lead director...more