FLASH
Legislative Update
The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
Senators Roberts and Craig Cosponsor S884
Industry Hits Goal of 20 Co-sponsors by Mid September
The addition of Roberts and Craig brings the Senate cosponsor count to 20; 10 Democrat and 10 Republican. 20 co-sponsors by mid September was the stated goal of industry lobbyist John Raffaelli, founder and chairman of "The Washington Group", a lobbying firm retained by APRO. Previous versions of the bill had as few as 8 co-sponsors...more

Wells Fargo Announces New Lending Goal of $20 Billion Over 10 Years To Women-Owned Businesses
Wells Fargo decided to re-establish the goal after surpassing its most-recently stated objective to lend $15 billion over a ten-year period. From 1995 through Q2 2003, Wells Fargo loaned $15.7 billion to women business owners...more

FLASH
Legislative Update
Kansas Democrat Becomes 79th House Co-Sponsor of HR996
HR 996: Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
Representative Moore voted in favor of (HR1701) in 2002 but did not cosponsor the bill. The addition of Rep. Moore brings the total House co-sponsor count to 79. HR1701, last years version of the Act,  passed the House in 2002 with 83 co-sponsors...more

Canada
Dorel Buys Carina Furniture Industries
Dorel Industries announced today it has signed and closed a purchase agreement for all of the shares of Toronto-based Carina Furniture Industries...more

Maytag Names Harley-Davidson's James McCaslin to Board of Directors
McCaslin is currently President and Chief Operating Officer of Harley-Davidson Motor Company, based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin...more

CEO Roger Mavity Makes £200m Bid For UK Rent to Own 'Boxclever'
The UK's largest Rent to Own, Boxclever, is in play. According to reports, Alchemy Partners, a UK based private equity group, is backing CEO Roger Mavity's £200m bid for the troubled company...more

Decatur Daily News
Decatur Alabama
Sports Section
Rent a Center Sales manager featured in "Where are they now"
Carlos Southward still has his old Decatur High letterman's jacket, and he treasures it even though it's almost too small for him now and it's black...more

Arkansas
'E-Z Pick'ins' Reports Successful Launch of Hot Springs Rent to Own Operation
The retail business is good but, according to Judy Pickens, "This year we've experienced an unprecedented number of credit rejects through Citi Financial." The company was turning away customers with cash but poor credit at an alarming rate. Judy explained "We needed to give people the same type of nice furniture, but make it affordable." In April of this year, Ray and Sean hit upon the answer...rent to own...more

Legislative Update
The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
Bayh and Baucus Bring Senate Cosponsor Count to 18
Senator Bayh is in his first term. Bayh serves on the Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs committee. S884 must first pass this committee before proceeding to the full Senate (8 of the 21 members of this committee are cosponsoring S884)...more

Feature
Measuring Store Performance
Look beyond the obvious
By David Oliver
Owner, First American Rentals
A well managed store should generate 70% gross margins and 25% Operating Profit...more

Women in the Home Industries Today (WITHIT) Announces Honorees For 2003 WOW Awards
WithIt, founded in 1997, encourages and develops leadership, mentoring, education and career opportunities for women in the home furnishings industry...more

Ugliest Couch in America
Sure Fit Inc. announced the winner of its ninth annual Ugly Couch Contest today, which was chosen by a live studio audience this morning on "Live with Regis and Kelly."...more

Indianapolis Man Wins Whirlpool Triathlon
David Forsee, a 34-year-old resident of Indianapolis is the first to cross the finish line in the inaugural Whirlpool Steelhead Triathlon...more

WestLB Bank Paving the Way For Buyout of UK Based Rent to Own 'Box Clever'
The German bank WestLB is paving the way for a buyout of, among other things, UK based rent to own Box Clever...more

Rent Way Holds Onto Big Gains
Rent Way (RWY) managed to hold on to the more than 13% gain experienced on Thursday 9-11. The companies stock ended the week at...more

Those Who Can, Do
Those Who Can't, Advocate
The Hartford Advocate published a story Thursday by reporter Patrick Rucker entitled 'Rent, or Robbery? The rent-to-own industry makes a lot of money in poor neighborhoods. Blumenthal is watching'. The "Blumenthal" in the exceptionally long headline refers to Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal...more

FLASH
Legislative Update
Oregon Republican Switches Sides and Becomes 78th Co-Sponsor of HR996 ; Total at 78
HR 996: Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
Oregon Republican Greg Walden was one of only 43 House Republicans to vote NO on the Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act (HR1701) in 2002. He will not only vote YES on this sessions version of the bill (HR996), but he has agreed to become a co-sponsor. Why the flip-flop?...more

The King of Sling
"Might as well face it I'm addicted to D's"
By Rufus Mudsucker
Rent to Own Maven
...Mom guided every aspect of my early RTO development. She spent her best years in a vain attempt to mold me into the very model of rent-to-own perfection. But, as often happens during puberty, I strayed from the path of rental purchase enlightenment into the bottomless pit of 'pump and dump'...more

La-Z-Boy President Kiser to Step Down
La-Z-Boy announced today that Jerry Kiser has elected to step down as the Company's president and chief executive officer and the Board has appointed Kurt L. Darrow, a 24 year La-Z-Boy veteran, to succeed him...more

survey
Furniture Leads All Categories For Shopping Levels Over Labor Day Weekend
Labor Day weekend shopping was extremely strong, exceeding last year by 6.1%. Furniture shopping topped all other categories with an 8.5% increase over a year ago...more

Texas
Rent Way Employee Discovers Body
Roy Robinson, an employee at Rentway who called 9-1-1 about the body, said he thinks he knows how the man died...more

Prepare Your Employees For The New $20 Note That Will Begin Circulating October 9th
"This is the most secure note the U.S. government has ever produced," said Federal Reserve Board Governor Mark W. Olson. "Its enhanced security will help ensure that our currency continues to represent value, trust and confidence to people all over the world...more

blackenterprise.com
Black Spending Power Tops $630 Billion
Advertisers respond to the steadily increasing economic clout of the African American consumer...more

Panasonic Introduces First Cable-Ready HDTV
The 53-inch widescreen (16:9) projection high-definition PT-53WXD63 is the first integrated DTV set to earn certified status from CableLabs to connect directly to cable television systems and receive digital services...more

Flash
Legislative Update
Iowa Republican Steve King Co-Sponsors HR996 ; Total at 77
HR 996: Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
Iowa Republican Steve King (R-IA 5th) signed on as co-sponsor of HR996, the Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act. The addition of Rep. King brings the total House co-sponsor count to 77...more

"Discount Denny"...I'm Back
I served in the RTO industry in the late 1970's throughout the 1980's and saw the industry evolve into a true Retail environment with name brand products, well displayed with a professionalism that had been lacking in the days past...more

Rent to Own industry donates appliances for Habitat Homes
Owners John and Barbara Keller of Keller's Rental Place and owner, John and Kathy Cox of Gateway Rent To Own, recently joined together along with their staffs to help two local families...more

Flash
Legislative Update
The Consumer Rental Purchase Agreement Act
North Dakota Democrat Kent Conrad Brings Senate Cosponsor Count to 16
John Raffaelli, founder and chairman of "The Washington Group", a lobbying firm retained by APRO,  told RTO Online recently that he expects to have over 20 Senate co-sponsors by mid September...more

Thomson Unveils New HDTV Lineup
Among the new products is the RCA Scenium 50-inch Digital Light Processing HDTV (model HDLP50W151) and a small set-top hard-disc recording device...more

Chicago Bank Uses Rent to Own Transactions To Avoid The Islamic Prohibition Against Interest
Strict interpretation of Islamic Law prohibits Muslims from charging or paying interest, this can be an insurmountable hurdle when buying big-ticket items...more

RTO Online Achieves key Milestones In August
As of September 2nd, 2003, RTO Online has achieved "top 3" status in the 2 most popular search engines; Google, Yahoo...more

RTO Online launches Updated Career Center
Career Center has been completely redesigned. Whether you're a job seeker or an employer, setting up an account is faster than ever...more

Excerpts From Tom Devlin's Book "Playing Through"
"...I am going to give you my 30-day notice. Ernie [Talley] raised his eyebrows. "You don't have to give me your 30-day notice," he said. "You can leave right now. And that was that!...more

Up's and Down's of Consolidation
A reporter from the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette spent the day at the local unemployment office. One patron was Barbara Myers, who was laid off along with the entire corporate office staff of Rarick's Easy Pay after the company was acquired by Rent Rite...more

RSSS Founder Les Feldser Dies at 77
Mr. Feldser and his wife Rosezell (Rosie) founded RSSS in 1979 and only recently retired after selling RSSS to Hightouch in December, 2002...more

Tom Devlin To Unveil New Book Sept 10;
Rent a Center Founder To Be Honored By WSU’s Center for Entrepreneurship
In addition to being recognized as the EIR, Devlin’s entrepreneurial success story has been written in a new book, “Playing Through,” which is part of the center’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Series...more

Louisville man faces life in prison after pleading guilty to robbing Rent Way and Aaron Rents...

Alphabet Robbers
2 Suspects sought in Rent a Center robbery and 6 other robbery cases of companies beginning with the letter "R"...more

Consumer Confidence Rebounds In August
Those anticipating that business conditions will improve over the next six months rose to 22.5 percent from 20.0 percent...more

RTO Online Publishes Reno Collection
Over 200 images available in the Online Gallery
RTO Online has completed work on the 2003 Convention Online Photo Album. NO registration is required to view over 200 images of your fellow RTO Pro's enjoying the show!..more

Rent a Center "Customer Appreciation Days" Aug 29-30
Customers are invited to any Rent-A-Center store for free food and drinks. The company will also offer specials created specifically for the promotion...more

Simtech Introduces $169.00 Retail Camcorder
According to a press release issued today, Simtech International has introduced a $169.00 suggested retail camcorder, billed as the "Lowest cost camcorder ever made...more

Rent-2-Own Launches New Website
Houston Texas based Rent2Own unveiled their updated web presence at rent2own.com...more

Rent to Own Payroll Bookkeeping
A Bit of Pain!
As an RTO business owner, chances are you have had to deal with payroll and all of its complexities. If you haven’t dealt with payroll yet, you may have to in the future...more

strange
Breaking and Entering
Huntington West Virginia police reported an unsuccessful burglary attempt ended after thief fell through the ceiling at the Rent-A-Center on 8th Street...more

Flash
Article includes new poll
Show Me Rent to Own Employee Helps Nab Suspected Child  Pornographer
According to files obtained from the court, Kris Kallio, a computer repairman, and David Gregory of Show-Me Rent to Own, reported the incidents to the Dexter Police Department after suspicious material was found on a rented computer that was being serviced...more

Whirlpool Announces Executive Changes in North American Operations
Whirlpool Corporation announced that Gregory T. McManus has been named vice president and general manager for the company's sales and customer care operations in North America...more

New Zealand Appliance Manufacturer Fisher Paykel Aligns With Whirlpool
Fisher & Paykel Appliances is a New Zealand-based international company that manufactures and markets major appliances for laundry, cooking, refrigeration and dishwashing...more

VIDEO!
5 Video Clips From the Reno Show!
Didn't get a chance to go to the show? Watch some video!

Rent Way Reports Net Income For Quarter; Same Store Sales Declined 1.9%
William E. Morgenstern
Chairman and CEO
"We can now shift away from a defensive business mode, and are positioned to invest back into our business to regain the revenue and market share lost over the past few years"...more