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Trombley, Smith Partner in Canton ColorTyme
Tony Trombley and Tom Smith have partnered to open a ColorTyme location in Canton, Ohio...more

Panasonic Prepares to Ship World's First Portable Blu-Ray Player
Panasonic announced the availability and pricing for the world's first portable Blu-ray player, the Panasonic DMP-B15...more

Video: Payday Loan vs. Bounced Check APR Comparison
Lending institutions are required by law to show their fees and interest in terms of an annual percentage rate (APR). However, payday loans are short-term loans to be repaid on your next payday...more

Hanover ColorTyme Celebrates Successful Fundraising Campaign
It started with Hanover's local ColorTyme store donating a laptop. Then it progressed to the development of a "Have a Heart, Give a Heart" fundraising campaign...more

Pressure Increasing on Congress to Reject Employee Free Choice Act
"The Employee Free Choice Act will significantly hurt businesses' flexibility." - Gary Shapiro, President and CEO, CEA...more

DSI Systems, Digital Delivery Group Form Alliance
DSI Systems today announced a strategic partnership creating the DSI DDG Alliance...more

Deceptive Practices Could Cost Conn's $40 Million
Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott today charged Conn's, Inc. with failing to honor product warranties, misleading customers about the nature of its products, false advertising and other violations of the Texas Deceptive Trade Practices Act...more

Rent-A-Center Donation Lights Up Summer Camps
"Because of Rent-A-Center's generosity, we now have the financial support to not only have the materials for a new program, but to hire a teacher to help us design a state-of-the-art program allowing campers to be more interactive with nature through modern technology." - Leo Matzke, executive director, Camp Lookout...more
 

Revised Furniture Tip-Over Standard Issued
The use of restraints to mitigate appliance tip-over hazards is well known and is - or should be - common practice for all Rent to Own companies. Not so well known are tip-over hazards involving furniture...more

Don't Give Up On Dead Remotes
According to the Consumer Electronics Association, over 33 million remote controls are laid to rest each year in the U.S. marketplace. Surprisingly, millions of them didn't really need to be replaced. Consumers incorrectly thought their remotes were broken when they really weren't...more

Report: Conservatism is Dead Man Walking
Five times as many people (78 percent vs. 15 percent) believe business in America has "too much power." Sixty eight percent of Americans would like to see major corporations have less influence in the country...more

Report; 28% of Check-Cashing Store Customers Have Bank Relationship
The report is based on in-person interviews with 400 check-cashing store users...more

Boomers Key to Economic Recovery
"When the American economy recovers, it will be on the backs of Baby Boomers." - Steve Howard, Author, Boomer Selling...more

Radio Rentals Reports 6.9% increase in Customer Count
"I am delighted to announce such a strong, positive result, especially by comparison to other businesses that are being impacted by some tough economic conditions." - John Hughes, Managing Director, Radio Rentals Australia...more

LCD Industry Shifting Focus to 3D
"The display industry players are shifting their focus from two-dimensional to three-dimensional technologies in order to deliver more vibrant and true images." - In-Jae Chung, CTO and Executive Vice-President, LG Display...more

Explanation of Antitrust Concerns Facing Trade Associations
An unlawful monopoly exists when only one firm controls the market for a product or service, and it has obtained that market power by suppressing competition with anticompetitive conduct. This applies to refusals-to-deal and group boycotts...more

RTO Industry Pioneer Lynn Porter Dies at 53
Lynn Porter, owner of Tulsa based Rent-Quik, passed away suddenly Sunday, May 24. Porter was 53...more

Small Business Owners Working Longer Hours
American small business owners report working more hours, more days and more holidays than their general public counterparts, and during the past year, that gap has widened according to the latest Small Business Watch survey...more

Obama Pledges Support For Small Business
President Barack Obama recently met with the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) and the National Small Business Award winners to discuss how the Administration's economic recovery efforts will benefit entrepreneurs...more

Study Ranks Banks on Small Firm Lending
The growth of small and microbusiness lending remained positive during the first half of 2008, although the expansion was slower than in the previous year...more

Latino Consumer Growth Doubles General Consumer Market
Latino buying power growth is outpacing non-Hispanic growth by 2 to 1...more

Small Business Confidence Drops, Cash Flow Issues Increase
49 percent of small business owners say they have experienced temporary cash flow issues in the past 90 days, up 10 percentage points from April...more

UPDATE
Reutimann Brings Home Win for Aaron's
David Reutimann gave Aaron's (NYSE:AAN) a win Monday in the rain-shortened Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at Lowe's Motor Speedway...more

Discover Rental-Purchase Extends Guarantee to Franchisors
One of the primary consumer benefits of the rental-purchase transaction is the ability to return merchandise at any time and for any reason with no further obligation. Discover Rental Purchase has taken this concept a step further by offering a similar option to its franchisees...more

Household Spending on Electronics Down 12%
The average U.S. household spent $1,229 on consumer electronics (CE) products in the past 12 months, a 12% decline ($176) from the prior year according to the 11th Annual Household CE Ownership and Market Potential Study...more

Registration Opens for Nationwide PrimeTime! Buying Show
Nationwide Marketing Group (NMG), announced today that registration is now open for their upcoming PrimeTime! buying show and conference at the Walt Disney World Swan and Dolphin Resort in Orlando on August 16-19, 2009...more

High Touch Names Dolezal CFO
Vernon A. Dolezal, Jr. has been named director of finance and chief financial officer of High Touch. The announcement was made today by Wayne Chambers, High Touch CEO/president...more

Ryan Alford to Handle Communications for ColorTyme, RimTyme
ColorTyme and RimTyme announced today the hiring of Ryan Alford as the corporate communications specialist...more

Aaron's Enters Into Naming Agreement for Outdoor Music Venue
Live Nation, the world's largest live music company, and Aaron's (NYSE:AAN), today announced a three year partnership that gives Aaron's the naming rights to the former Lakewood Amphitheatre...more

Survey: Consumers Want Value; Looking to Buy Smarter
Shopping behavior continues to be negatively affected by the economy; more than six in ten consumers (62%) report buying fewer and/or cheaper items than three months ago...more

Poll: Majority Believe Real-Estate Bottom Reached
More accurate perceptions of the past gave way to hope for the future. Most homeowners - 74 percent - believe their home will not decline in value in the coming six months...more

Dear Mr. President, Enough
Owners of small consumer electronics businesses from across the nation delivered a letter to President Barack Obama Wednesday urging him to abandon policies that will hurt small business...more

VIDEO
High Point Pleased With Market Despite Lite Attendance
Spring 2009 High Point Furniture Market attendance fell 8% to 75,5367 total registrations. Of those registered, 44,237 listed themselves as Buyers...more

Cash Store Settles British Columbia Class Action for $14 Million
Canadian payday loan provider The Cash Store Financial Services Inc., formerly Rentcash Inc., announced today that it has settled two class action lawsuits commenced in British Columbia in 2005 and 2008...more

Hanover ColorTyme Rallies Support for 10 yr Old's Heart Transplant
The Hanover, PA ColorTyme will hold a fundraiser for 10-year old Jarrett Peck. Jarrett has had two open-heart surgeries, five stints, and three coils in his heart and lungs...more

Connecticut RTO Dealers Promote Business Through Community Events
Ron Manzoori and Scott Craig believe promoting their rent-to-own business and helping the community are not mutually exclusive...more

Vendors Attending Fewer Tradeshows in 2009; Show Selection Critical
Vendors plan to attend 15% fewer tradeshows in 2009. Exhibitors are also trimming expenses by reducing booth-staffing and shipping simpler, lighter, less expensive displays...more

Home Furnishings Association Awards $56,000 in Scholarships
The American Home Furnishings Alliance Furniture Foundation has awarded $56,000 in grants for 2009-2010 scholarships to benefit the furniture industry...more

Trans Secretary Ray LaHood to Keynote DC Retail Conference
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood will be the keynote speaker at this week's National Retail Federation 74th annual Washington Leadership Conference...more

Aaron's Driver, 13 Yr Old Chase Elliot Wins at Lanier
Aaron's added the Program to its pool of sponsorships in 2007. Robin Loudermilk, then Chief Operating Officer, now CEO of Aaron's said, "Aaron's partnership with the Bill Elliott Racing Driver Development Program will be a great addition to our involvement in sports marketing...more

Employment Downward Trends slows
"The outlook for employment is much less negative than in prior months, but still it is not likely that employment growth will resume before the final quarter of the year." - Gad Levanon, Senior Economist, The Conference Board...more

InFORM's GIANT RTO Door-Hanger Returns
InForm Print and Promotions, Inc., the leading provider of custom-imprinted advertising specialties exclusively for the Rent to Own industry, today announced the return of the giant RTO door-hanger to the company's lineup...more

Flat Panel Supply Not Keeping Up With Demand
As LCD TV panel makers quickly return to nearly full capacity...the industry will have to avoid a potential repeat oversupply situation...more

Blu-ray Shipments Jump 72% as Price Falls
The average selling price for a stand-alone BD player fell nearly 34 percent from $393 dollars in Q1 2008 to $261 in Q1 2009. Consumers who are likely to buy in the next six months expect to pay $214 on average...more

VIZIO Leads U.S. Flat Panel HDTV Shipments
"Since the onset of the economic downturn, VIZIO's share has risen dramatically." - Riddhi Patel, Principal Analyst, Television Systems, iSuppli...more

Keeping Notebooks Past Their Prime Costs More Than it Saves
A recent study by J.Gold Associates - Keeping Notebooks Past Their Prime - revealed that delaying laptop replacement until the unit is more than 3 years old could cost your company more than the cost of buying a new computer...more

Employee Confidence in Economy Edges Up
The Spherion Employee Confidence Index increased 4.0 points to 45.4 in April. The Index, which measures workers' confidence in their personal employment situation and optimism in the economic environment...more

Bud Evans Opens Augusta ColorTyme
Bud Evans, owner of the new ColorTyme franchise store in Augusta, cut the ceremonial red ribbon in front of his store April 30 to kick-off a grand opening celebration...more

Small Business Owners Fear Employee Free Choice Act
Several prominent small business trade associations have joined forces to lobby against the Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) - pro-union legislation currently under consideration in congress...more

easyhome Q1 Same Store Sales Fall 1.7% on Insta-Rent Acquisition
easyhome Ltd. (TSX:EH), Canada's leading rent-to-own company, today announced its results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2009...more

Discretionary Spending at 30 Year Low
Slight upticks in consumer spending in the month of April were limited to a very few retailers and were "totally replacement driven." These were the major findings of the latest America's Research Group (ARG)/UBS Consumer Mind Reader Survey released today...more

Study: Consumers Purchase More Online During Recession
According to survey data released today from Performics' 2009 Online Buyer Economic Trend Study, 60 percent of consumers say they will spend equal or more money online in the next 60 days than they did at this time last year...more

Semelsberger, Gibson Open Coshocton, Ohio Premier Rental Purchase
When Ron Semelsberger decided to join the RTO industry 23 years ago, he had no idea his journey would include three acquisitions, six relocations and eventual ownership of his own rent-to-own franchise - Premier Rental Purchase...more

CORT Expands Staging Services Amid Housing Glut
Staging: The placement of rental furniture and accessories, typically in an empty home, apartment or commercial property, to increase eye appeal and thus the likelihood of sale...more