Rent-A-Center Introduces  New National Broadcast Campaigns for 2003
Ann Davids
RAC Vice President Advertising
“After much research, we feel it’s time to move on. In our research, our customers and potential customers told us they could relate to an everyday person, so we have new people in our spots that are easy to relate to.”...more

Legislative Update
HR 996 Cosponsors to 7
5 more names have been added to the list of co-sponsors for HR 996, the Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act...more

Dealer Profile
Zooooom.............
Jack Rowland's Rise to RTO prominence in the Sacramento Market
Jack Rowland began his Rent to Own career in 1981 as a delivery driver for REMCO. By age 20, he was managing one of the largest stores in the country with monthly revenues exceeding $110,000...more

Flash
Alliance Computing Technologies adds IBM brands to its product line
ACT’s IBM NetVista model was specifically configured and built with the RTO market in mind, including a built-in recovery process. In addition to features that set it apart from other brands, the NetVista model is not sold in retail stores...more

Bassett Q1 Sales Down 13.6%
Robert H. Spilman Jr.
President and chief executive officer
"Business conditions continue to be challenging. The cost reduction actions we have taken have helped to offset lower sales levels and will position us for greater profitability in the future...more

All the Marbles
Future of Rent Way hinges on refinance
The future of the second largest rent to own company in the nation hinges on CEO Bill Morgenstern's ability to refinance the company's 15% debt...more

Flash
Rent Way Settles Class Action for $25 Million
Rent-Way, Inc. announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to settle the consolidated class action pending against it in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Under the settlement, Rent-Way will pay $25 million to the class...more

Furniture Brands International Nominates Former Wal Mart CEO Bob Martin to Board of Directors
Furniture Brands International is America's largest home furnishings manufacturer...more

PeopLoungers Plans $3 million Expansion
This positive development comes at a time when most major upholstery manufacturers are reporting flat to negative results and are increasingly utilizing cheap Chinese imports in favor of expanding US facilities...more

Las Vegas World Market Center Heralds New Era For Furniture Industry
Las Vegas Mayor Oscar B. Goodman
"Las Vegas will become the furniture industry mecca"...more

Disposing of Assets
Figuring Gain or Loss on Rental Inventory
Snippet: "...be careful when selling an asset. You don’t want to report more income than is necessary, nor do you want to lose the benefit of a deduction. That is, unless you don’t mind paying extra taxes to the government."...more

Bestway Financials

Canada
Rentcash to Issue $1.5 million in Stock to Fund Expansion
Rentcash Inc. announced that it intends to undertake a non-brokered private placement of up to 1,500,000 Common Shares at a price of $1.00 per share...more

Myths of Employee Theft
Why burying your head in the sand is the wrong approach
“...[She] was a homeowner, married, long-term reliable employee. The last person you would think would do it,” lamented the owner of a medium size budget store, who requested anonymity...more

Vermont
Factoid: Upon the request of a consumer a dealer  shall, "without unreasonable delay", disclose when the merchandise was purchased new, if known...more

New Hampshire Rent to Own Agreement Act
Factoid: "The statement shall also include the following disclosure: "If you want to purchase this or similar property now, you should consider cash or credit terms that might be available to you."...more

A Tribute to France
Snippet: "Going to war without France is like going deer hunting without your accordion."
Norman Schwartzkopf
...more France Humor Facts

RTO Online Welcomes Britt Beemer and America's Research Group
RTO Online will provide select predatory.com content to the Rent to Own channel. Britt Beemer, founder and chairman of America's Research Group and Predatory.com, is widely recognized as one of the best marketing minds of the decade...more

Recommended Reading
BizJournal
Babysitting Employees? It's time to grow up
Tips on handling 'high maintenance' employees...more

New
Rent to Own Research Tool
Click on the map below to view up-to-date "Economy at a glance" reports for your state. Use the shortcuts below or scroll down to find "Economy at a glance" reports for specific metropolitan areas within your state...more (large file)

Aaron Rents Franchisee to Open Second Spokane Location
Aspen Way Development LLC, a Billings, Montana based franchisee of Aaron’s Sales & Lease rent-to-own stores, has leased 8,500 square feet of retail space at Heritage Village...more

Maytag Warns Q1 Sales Will Not Meet Expectations
February operating earnings 25% below plan
Ralph F. Hake
Chairman and CEO
"The consumer was resilient and continued to buy premium products throughout 2002. Beginning in February 2003, we saw a behavior change as retail anxiety heightened...more

Recommended Reading
GoErie.com
Rent-Way CEO says company is ready to grow
snippet: The decision to sell stores, however, has not come without its share of pain.
Bill Morgenstern
CEO
"For me, it's like selling children," he said. "It's something I've spent my life building and it's hard to give that up."...more

Missing Child Alert
Since May of 2002, RTO Online has hosted links that allow for Rent to Own dealers to print out 'Missing Child' posters for their state. Dealers are encouraged to update these posters monthly and display them prominently in the store...more

Bestway Reports Q2 Same Store Revenues Up 15.1%
David Kraemer
President and Chief Executive Officer
"I can not say enough about the job everyone here at Team Bestway is doing. We committed ourselves 7 months ago to make '03 a year of growth, and I'm pleased to say we are seeing the rewards of good planning and execution..."more

Zacks Issues Strong Buy Recommendation on Rent-A-Center
Zacks.com releases another list of stocks that are currently members of the coveted Zacks #1 Ranked list which has produced an average annual return of +33.6% since 1988...more

Exclusive Feature
Ding.....Round Two
Effort For Rent to Own legislation Ramps Up
The biggest difference in this introduction compared to HR1701 is the number of co-sponsors. HR1701 was introduced on May 3rd, 2001 with 13 co-sponsors and gained an additional 12 within 2 weeks...more

Recommended Reading
Calgary Herald
The Empire builder
Bill Comrie's The Brick empire now includes 70 stores across Canada and he has plans to expand into Quebec...more

StartupJournal.com Reports Best Way to Develop New Business
The best way for companies on a tight budget to find paying clients is through networking, according to StartupJournal.com, The Wall Street Journal's Center for Entrepreneurs...more

Whirlpool Reaffirms Q1 Industry and Earnings Outlook
David R. Whitwam
Chairman and chief executive officer
"...today we are seeing a moderate decline in consumer demand in the U.S. appliance industry. In addition, we are not seeing a sales-mix shift to lower priced products that are sold under our U.S. brands."...more

Flexsteel Announces 245th Consecutive Quarterly Dividend
Flexsteel Industries, Inc. (Nasdaq:FLXS) Board of Directors announces its second quarter dividend of $.13 per share payable April 1...more

Why is the federally mandated transition to digital television moving so slowly?
Study
"...except for the companies that make TVs, digital TV is a profitless exercise for the television industry."...more

Canton Unveils Home Theatre Package
The package consists of four identical two-way satellite speakers for front and surround L/R channels, a matching horizontal center-channel speaker...more

Study Shows Economy and Corporate Performance Impacting Executive Compensation
While the difficult economy and companies' poor financial performance are taking a toll on executive pay, many companies are using this time to consider changes to executive long-term incentive...more

Women in the Home Industries Today (Withit) Accepting Nominations for Annual WOW Awards
WithIt, founded in 1997, encourages and develops leadership, mentoring, education and career opportunities for women in the home furnishings industry...more

Bush Industries Reports Loss in Q4, Full Year
Paul Bush
Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
"...given the current market realities we will implement an aggressive restructuring initiative in 2003 to lower our overall cost structure, which includes rightsizing the North American furniture business.."...more

Larry Carrico's Rent One Named the Internet's Best Rent to Own Website
RTO Online reviewed every known Rent to Own website and we are happy to announce that Mt. Vernon, IL based Rent One ( www.rentone-rto.com ) has been awarded "Best of the Web"...more

03-08-03
Study Says Forty-six Percent of Americans Are Making Minimum or no Payments on their Credit Card Balances
Of 1000 consumers  who had revolving balances on their credit cards...

• 6% made no payments
• 40% plan to make slightly more than the minimum payment
• ...more

As the RAC Annual Managers Meeting Goes On in Vegas, Take a Look Back At 2002
Follow this link to view a clip of last years 'kick-off' video...more

New
Washington Lease Purchase Agreement Act
Interesting Factoid: A lessor shall not lease used upholstered furniture or bedding that has not been sanitized...more

The General Journal
Your Most Versatile Accounting tool
A journal is a record of transactions that shows the accounts and amounts of both the debit side and credit side of the entry...more

Nations Largest Furniture Manufacturer Lowers 2003 Forecast
W.G. (Mickey) Holliman
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer
"When we issued our 2002 year-end results in January, we said we foresaw no improvement in the business climate for the near term. Indeed, since then we have seen business conditions deteriorate somewhat...more

Vendor Spotlight
FlatRateInfo.com and the Rent to Own Community
e-InfoData's flagship product FlatRateInfo.com provides a unique, low-cost way for our RTO dealers to obtain information about individuals and companies through public and proprietary databases...more

Stealth Security Offers
 Peace of Mind to Rental Dealers
"The rent-to-own industry faces great challenges due to it's business model, the amount of cash transactions, and unique nature of its inventory"
Scott Schievelhud
VP of Loss Prevention
Stealth Security

Group Tells Congress: Pass
 Bush Tax Plan ASAP
Overall, the package would reduce taxes by $637 billion over the course of 10 years...more

RTO Enterprises Announces Strong 2002 Results
Q4 Net income Doubled From 2001
David Ingram
President and CEO
"I am delighted to be reporting RTO's eighth consecutive quarter of comparable pre-tax profit growth...more

Aaron Rents Reports Record Revenues
Company Expects 2003 Total Revenue to Exceed $1 Billion
R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr.
CEO
"We anticipate adding approximately 30 Company-operated and 50 franchised Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership stores in 2003"...more

Flash
Aaron Rents Conference Call Summary
Investors concerned with Sight and Sound
A good portion of the call was spent discussing Aaron Rents foray into retail with the recent acquisition of Sight and Sound. There is a glaring disconnect in the way investors view the acquisition compared to company officials...more

Rainbow Rentals Q4, 2002 Conference Call Summary
Best Quote
In response to an analyst's question 'Can you continue to afford to offer free health care to employees?'...Wayland Russell defends Rainbow's above average compensation that attracts and keeps above average people.
"We can't afford to run the business with mindless store caretakers. We need executive level people to run the stores with an entrepreneurial spirit to want to drive those stores to higher levels"...more

Risky Business
Rent to Own Risk Management
In an industry where a pulse and $9.99 will get you a new TV, actively managing risk must be a top priority...more

From the Mailbag
What...Are You Nuts!
Craig Stanley, President of Stanley's Rent To Own based in Claremore, Oklahoma writes (in response to our article "Is Federal RTO Legislation Wise") "There are many Democratic House and Senate members that support and have voted in favor of our industry. Stop making these broad, untrue statements that all "Democrats" are against us...click here to view the comment and our response

Rainbow Rentals Announces Improved Performance for 2002
5th consecutive quarterly increase in same store sales
Rainbow Rentals today reported improved financial results for its fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2002...more

1000 People Surveyed
42% of Americans Would Pay of Credit Cards And Other Debt From President Bush's Tax Cut
These findings are the result of monthly nationwide telephone poll of 1000+ adults conducted by ICR/International Communications Research in the past week...more

Foresight Club Expands Offering to Motorcycle Enthusiasts & Other Travelers
Foresight Inc., well know in the Rent to Own industry, has signed a deal to provide a private label membership program marketed toward motorcycle enthusiasts and the travel and leisure public...more

Energy Goes Pre-Pay
LG&E praises 12 month old pilot program for pre-paid electric. Consumer Groups against...more

Winstead Represents Rent-A-Center in $100 Million Acquisition
Winstead Sechrest & Minick P.C. announced today that attorneys in the firm's Corporate Practice represented Rent-A- Center in the recently completed acquisition of 295 locations stores from Rent-Way...more

Rentcash Reports 136% Revenue Increase From Rent to Own Operations
Revenues from the Corporation's Insta-rent rental-purchase operations increased 136% to $ 668,000 from $ 489,000 for the same time last year...more