The Rufus Diaries
A day in the life of a rent to own maven
My RTO therapy is progressing nicely. I was even able to take inventory last week without flop sweat or flashbacks. As a next step, my therapist at the Midwest Home for the Rent to Own Insane suggested I keep a diary.
8:55 AM
Found a note in the night drop from a customer that rented a new Widescreen HDTV and living room group 2 days ago informing me that she moved to Texas, with the merchandise, and she would be glad to mail the payments. PS: "Not sure what my address will be...I'll let you know...more

Consumer Confidence Highest Since Fall 2002
“Consumer confidence is now at its highest level since the Fall of 2002...more
Lynn Franco
Director of The Conference Board’s Consumer Research Center

Ex-Rent-Way execs to be sentenced
The three executives charged with masterminding a $100 million accounting fraud at Erie's Rent-Way Inc. are using three different strategies to persuade a federal judge that they deserve lenient sentences...more

Merit Furniture Distributors Announce Recall of Bunk Beds
The bunk beds have openings between the guardrails and in the end structures that are too large. A child's body could slide between the openings...more

Maytag Highlights 2004 Growth Strategies
"We are coming out of 2003 a stronger company both financially and operationally...more
CEO Ralph F. Hake

U.S. Leading Economic Index Increases in October
The leading index increased by 0.4 percent in October. September’s originally-reported 0.2 percent decline was revised up to a 0.0 percent change...more

Aaron Rents Rejoins APRO After 5 Year Absence
"We're thrilled to welcome Aaron Rents into the Rent to Own community...more
Lyn Leach
President of The association for Progressive Rental Organizations

Whirlpool Names Kentucky Family "Soccer Family of the Year"
The company poured through thousands of entries from across the nation and selected the Schmitt family (parents Karl and Kelly and children Elizabeth, 13, and Alex, 11) of Fort Mitchell, Ky...more

Aaron Rents Declares Semi-Annual Dividend; Increases Payout 54%
"We anticipate record revenues and earnings for 2003, and our future growth prospects are excellent...more
R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr
Aaron Rents CEO

Missouri Rent to Own Dealers Form Political Action Committee
MRDA Board of Directors approved the use of 50% of 2004 dues for PAC "seed money." MRDA members will be allowed to check a box on their 2004 dues statement to "opt-out" of the PAC...more

Bedding Manufacturer Simmons Company Acquired for $1.1 Billion
Thomas H. Lee Partners, a leading Boston-based private equity firm, together with Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Charlie Eitel and senior management, signed a definitive agreement to acquire Simmons Company...more

Women Corporate Executives Seek Joy & Work/Life Balance
While much has been written lately about the "opt-out" strategy of women executives, these women have chosen to "opt-in" and manage work / life balance. Women executives interviewed said they: (1) struggled with work/life balance issues and felt that other women handled it better than themselves...more

Rent to Own: The Slow Motion Sale
There is an interesting discussion being held on RTO Online Forums. It revolves around whether or not the core of rent to own is collections or sales. Collections being the ability to collect renewal payments on time, and Sales being the ability to sell the value of the transaction itself. The argument is an old one, but critically important to the evolution of the industry...more

PC Products Growth Rate Triples During First Three Quarters of 2003; Notebook Revenue Surpasses Desktop
PC products sales grew by over 8 percent in U.S. retail stores between January and September of 2003, compared to only 2.8 percent for the first nine months of 2002...more

Rent Way Looks To Future
If you find yourself in a tunnel and approaching a bright light, are you A: Dead and well on your way to the "happy renting grounds," or B: Approaching the successful end of a long and sometimes dark journey. For Rent Way, the answer appears to be B...more

Study Shows 11% Increase In Consumer Spending For Appliance, Electronics, Computers
Data for November 2003 shows an 11.5% increase in 'Per Capita Spent' for Appliances, Electronics and Computers over November 2002...more

Ford To Hold Best Business Plan Competition
The Ford Building Entrepreneurial Success Today (BEST) Business Plan contest will award a grand prize of $50,000 and two runner-up prizes of $25,000...more

RTO Government Workshop

Rentcash Reports Net Loss; 99% Revenue Increase, Opens 100th Location
"We have more than doubled the company's size in the past six months...more
Gordon J. Reykdal
Rentcash President and Chief Executive Officer

Rent Way Reports Net Loss; Same Store Revenue Up 2.5%, Operating Income Doubles
"For the year we increased our active rental agreement count by over 19,000 compared to losing over 26,000 in fiscal 2002...more
William E. Morgenstern
Rent-Way CEO

Rent Way Conference Call Today 4:30 PM Eastern

Feature
Are you Left or Right Brained?
Diversity is Key to World Class Rent to Own Success
Webster's defines Diversity as 'Variety'. Why is diversity important? How can maintaining a diverse pool of employees make a rent to own store more profitable?...more

GE Adds Profile Harmony Clothes Care System To Rent to Own Lineup
GE announced the availability the most advanced laundry pair GE Appliances has ever offered to the Rental-Purchase Industry...more

Survey
Word-of-mouth Recommendations, Internet Search Engines, and Promotional Offers are Key Drivers in Consumer Electronics Purchases...more

La-Z-Boy Net Sales Fall 9.3%
"We are disappointed that the usual fall seasonal pickup in consumer furniture demand did not materialize to date...more
Kurt L. Darrow
La-Z-Boy president and CEO

11 Term Texas Democrat Becomes 81st Representative to Co-sponsor HR996
Rep. Ortiz voted in favor of industry legislation during the 107th congress, but this is his first co-sponsorship in 7 attempts at passage in the house since 1985...more

Britt Beemer Predicts 4.8% Increase In Holiday Spending
“My projection for Christmas 2003 is a 4.8% increase over a year ago, due to consumers spending more on each individual gift...more
Britt Beemer
Chairman, America's Research Group

Rent-Way Schedules Fourth Quarter Earnings Release
Rent-Way (RWY) today announced it will host a conference call in connection with the release of financial results for its fourth quarter and fiscal year...more

Survey
More Than Half of Americans (55%) Say Car Loans and Lease Payments Are a Big Enough Burden to Prevent Them From Making Major Purchases
Of all Americans surveyed, 46% have outstanding car loans or leases and 54% make no car payments...more

GoVideo Networked DVD Player Wins Prestigious Popular Science 'Best of What's New' Award
The GoVideo Networked DVD Player is the first product of its kind with the capability to stream movies, music, and pictures through a wireless or wired network from a computer to a consumer electronics component...more

Michael Dell "Diversity is Both Right and Good for Business"; Dell Receives NSHMBA's Corporate Brillante Award
"We think of diversity in terms of similarities and differences in thinking, leadership, skills and styles," Mr. Dell said. "We harness those perspectives in pursuit of common business goals...more

Flash
Aaron Rents Franchises 31 Rosey Rentals Stores; Awards Additional Franchise Territory
The stores, 28 of which are currently operating as Ace TV Rentals or Choice Rent-to-Own, will enter the Aaron's franchise system and be converted to Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership stores...more

Aaron Rents CEO Loudermilk Having a Ball
Loudermilk said the company will announce today a new franchise deal for 31 more stores -- continuing the rapid growth the retailer began in 1955...more

Rent Way Stock Quietly Outperforming Peers
Factoid
In addition to setting 3 new 52 week highs since September 15th, Rent Way stock (RWY) has outperformed Aaron Rents, Rainbow, Easyhome, S&P 500, Dow Jones Index, and NASDAQ over the past 12 months...more

The Customer Comes....Eighth?
“The customer comes first” is one of the three great lies of the modern corporation, according to a recent cover story in Across The Board, The Conference Board magazine...more

Baltimore Police Charge Five Men In Rent a Center Robbery

Thomson RCA/GE Signs Strategic Partnership With China's TCL; Deal to benefit RTO industry
"This is really a win-win situation, both for Thomson and the Rental-Purchase Industry...more
Timothy Shannon
National Manager Consolidated Specialty Sales

Jackson Hewitt Details Strategic Alliance With Rent-A-Center
As part of the alliance, Jackson Hewitt Tax Service customers can obtain a coupon that will provide them with two weeks of free rental of an item at Rent-A-Center locations when they pay for two weeks on any new agreement and use their Jackson Hewitt Tax Service CashCard...more

Legislative Update
The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
Oregon Republican Gordon Smith Cosponsors S884
The addition of Smith brings the Senate cosponsor count to 21; 10 Democrat and 11 Republican...more

Easyhome Files Prospectus For Common Share Offering
The Company intends to apply a portion of the proceeds of this offering against the Company’s revolving bank indebtedness and to redeem all of its outstanding preference shares...more

Poll Shows 95% of RTO Pros Favor Reporting Illegal Content Found On Rented Computers
In August, a Show Me Rent to Own employee in Dexter Missouri found child pornography on a rented computer. The employee reported the illegal material to local police. Detectives found additional child pornography in the suspects home. As a result, warrants were issued and the suspect is in custody...more

Rent-A-Center Chooses Plateau Systems to Manage Online Training For All Employees
"Each store averages six coworkers, which makes the impact of each and every individual critical to the success of our business...more
Joe Arnette
VP Training for Rent A Center

survey
71% Of All US Households Likely To Purchase Electronics Product This Holiday Season
The average consumer will purchase approximately seven electronics products this holiday season, giving electronics sales a boost of 4 percent compared with 2002 holiday sales...more

Sale May Be Near For UK Rent to Own Boxclever

Flash
Boxclever, UK's Largest Rent to Own, To Close 'Endeva'; Eliminate 1,000 Jobs

La-Z-Boy CEO To Web Cast Presentation at Investor Conference
With annual sales in excess of $2 billion, La-Z-Boy Incorporated is one of the world's leading residential furniture producers...more

Furniture Brands International Announces Operations to Cease at Highland House
"Highland House has been a well known brand name in our industry for many years...this division of our company has not generated the financial returns our shareholders expect and deserve...more
Mickey Holliman
CEO

Gender Differences Influence Consumer Electronics Purchasing; Women Choose Ease, Men Opt for Power
Women want speaker systems so they can enjoy music throughout the house (53 percent female vs. 27 percent male), Men specify speaker systems with excellent audio quality, even if they have to pay more (39 percent male vs. 28 percent female)...more

Morgan Joseph downgrades Aaron Rents From Buy to Hold
Analyst Carole Cranmer of Morgan Joseph downgrades Aaron Rents, Inc (RNT) from "buy" to "hold." The target price is set to $21...more

Help Wanted Index Holds Steady
The labor market is no longer declining, with want-ad volume at the same level since June and initial unemployment claims inching down...more

easyhome (formerly RTO Enterprises) Reports Revenue Up 10%; Same Store Growth 7.8%
"Our resolve to invest aggressively in our brand transition to easyhome in the second quarter is paying off, with double-digit growth in revenue and a doubling of net income compared to a year ago."...more
David Ingram
President & CEO

Rent Rite Opens 90th Location
"Our simple, uncomplicated transaction gives us an effective competitive edge."..more
Ed Stanko
President and CEO

Aaron Rents Sees No Impact From Child Tax Credits; Customer Count Up 10% for Quarter
Rent a Center reported a decreasing customer count due primarily to higher than normal payouts as a result of the child tax credits. Ken Butler, president of Aaron Rents Sales and Lease Ownership division, said Wednesday that Aarons saw no such affect...more

Rainbow Rentals Reports Net Income Down 25%; Same Store Sales Up Disappointing 1.1%
"Although we were disappointed in the bottom-line results of our seasonally slow third quarter, we are pleased that our clearance initiative positioned us well for the fourth quarter, our busiest quarter of the year"...more
Wayland J. Russell
Chairman and CEO

CORT Furniture Rental Aids Southern California Fire Victims
CORT Furniture Rental is working with various national and local relief agencies, insurance companies and individuals to help locate and furnish temporary housing and offices for fire victims...more