Over the last 14 years, Emory has had as many as eight stores open at once, but was in a constant struggle to secure the financing he needed to grow at a significant pace.

Bruce Emory was featured in the RTO Excellence section of the March, 2006 issue of MAGAZINE. Read the March, 2006 Issue here.

Former independent rent-to-own (RTO) dealer Bruce Emory had a list of requirements as he considered the right RTO franchising company for his stores. On his list: A company that believed in him, supported him and also allowed him to preserve the company culture he built for his stores. After several rounds in search of the right RTO fit, he chose ColorTyme and converted his three Rent-to-Own Concepts stores in the Atlanta area to ColorTyme locations in November of last year.

“For me, converting to ColorTyme was about joining forces with both ColorTyme and with Rent-A-Center, one of the biggest companies in the business, in order to capitalize on their experience and financial power,” Emory said. “As a ColorTyme franchisee, I benefit from those advantages, but I also run my own business – and that’s really what most entrepreneurs want – stability, support and independence all at the same time.”

Emory got his start in the rent-to-own industry when he took a temporary entry level position in 1986. With a background in retail and experience in management and collections, the Missouri native excelled in RTO and decided to make it a career. After six years in the industry, Emory pursued a franchising opportunity with the company he worked for to no avail. Determined to be a store owner, Emory opened his first Rent-to-Own Concepts store in metro Atlanta just six months later in 1992 with the help of his family.

Over the last 14 years, Emory has had as many as eight stores open at once, but was in a constant struggle to secure the financing he needed to grow at a significant pace. Instead, he maintained his stores and grew little by little each year, continuing to look for financing options, even looking into ColorTyme’s franchising program a few years ago.

“ColorTyme’s team and the entire franchisee package has really been stepped up over the last few years,” Emory said. “They have so much to offer franchisees: financing, intensive training programs, inventory support and great pricing for a larger selection of products. Their training programs are some of the best in the business at every level, from sales positions all the way up to more advanced collections positions.”

Emory currently has three stores in the Atlanta area: Mableton, Douglasville, and Carrollton. He plans to expand in western Atlanta, building on his loyal customer base and attributes his patrons’ satisfaction to the attitude he encourages in his employees each day.

“With ColorTyme, I continue to run all of my stores like a small business,” he said. “We will always work with the customer - everyone has hard times and it’s our job to help them get through those. No matter what their customer history, we want them back to give them the opportunity to get on their feet again.”