Cole Flynn, Kevin Wood Named Aaron's Managers of the Year

Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership, a division of Aaron Rents (RNT), awards Store of the Year in both the Franchise and Company systems. Farmington, New Mexico General Manager Kevin Wood was awarded Aaron's 2006 Store of the Year for the franchise system. Cole Flynn, GM of the Fort Meyers, Florida Aaron's, took top honors for company owned stores. The pair were presented with 2007 Hummer H3s at Wednesday's Denim and Diamonds Awards banquet at the Gaylord Texan Resort in Grapevine, Texas. See new photo galleries; Western Cocktail Reception (45) Awards Banquet Denim And Diamonds (164). Listen to 4 new podcast interviews below.

Kevin Wood told the crowd of over 2,000 of his peers that they played a big art in his achievements by keeping the pressure up to perform and sharing ideas. "Never stop sharing," said Woods. "Your support and encouragement is invaluable." Woods sent an emotional thank you to his staff who could not attend. "I wish they could be with me tonight. What makes it fun every morning is to get up and imagine what we can accomplish together today."

Aaron's top performing company store has come out of the Tampa region for 4 consecutive years. Top company manager Cole Flynn described the Store of the Year award as "The most amazing feeling he's ever had." He added, "2006 was a great year, and I know there will be many more great years to come."

Aaron's founder R. Charles Loudermilk reminisced about Aaron's past and how far the company has come. Loudermilk started Aaron Rents with 300 folding chairs he rented for 10 cents per day. "When I look out on this crowd and see how far we've come, It's easy to believe in miracles."

Celebrity speakers included David Reutimann, driver of #99 Aaron's Dream Machine. "Reutimann thanked Ken Butler for the opportunity to represent Aaron's "#99 is the only car that has it's own identity, no matter who drives it, it's still the Aaron's Dream Machine."

Super Bowl champion quarterback Kurt Warner and Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker Shelton Quarles were on hand to thank Aaron's for it's support of Homes For The Holidays, a charity that awards fully furnished homes to single parents. Aaron's donates all furnishings and appliances for the homes. "It's rare to find an organization who's goal is simply to impact the lives of people," said Warner. "Many people thanked me for coming tonight, but I'm here to say thank you to Aarons. This program is not possible without you. It takes people like you to make dreams come true."

Born to a young single mother, Quarles said he knows what it means to not have a home. "With the help of Aaron's we've been able to provide homes to many people in Tampa Bay." He added, "With Aaron's help, we don't give people a handout, we give them a hand up."

HP and New Age Electronics were named Aaron's Vendor of the Year for 2006. Distributor New Age doubled it's sales in the Aaron's system in 2006. Scott Harrington, VP Sales for HP thanked the store managers. "I've been in sales long enough to know that its one thing to get merchandise in the stores, it's another thing to get it out. I want to thank everybody in this room for driving the sales of HP in your stores."

The Aarons San Antonio Service Center won Service Center of the year for the fourth year in a row. Manager Antonio Frye accepted the award.

Top Fulfillment center was also a repeat. The Magnolia Mississippi Fulfillment Center took top honors for the second consecutive year.

Giving back
Aaron's allows individual stores to earn money for donations at the community level though the company's ACORP program. John Wagener, GM of the Mapelton Georgia Aaron's explained the mechanics of ACORP, Aaron's Community Outreach Program, to RTO Online. "For every month a store hits $100k monthly revenue, they get $1,000 to give back to the community in any way they see fit." Wagener's store has made ACORP status for 48 consecutive months.

"The community knows that not only are we there as a business, but we also assist the community and broaden our relationships." Wagener said his team meets once per month to decide where to donate the money. "We like to focus on kids after school programs, boys and girls clubs and kids sports."

John has been with Aarons for 3 years and GM for 2 1/2. He credits his team with maintaining ACORP status for so long: Issaac Vivens, customer accounts manager; Joshua Celeste, sales manager; Favio Cueaves, manager trainee; Rosa Jenkins, customer service rep; and Stephanie Smith, customer service rep. "I have one of the finest teams in the West Atlanta Region."

Wagener said business is booming. His hottest product? "It has always been, and I believe always will be, big screen TVs." He added that computers are catching up to big screens and he expects laptops will outpace desktops in 18 months."

Wagener says the best thing about Aaron's is - "Tenure doest matter. If you can get in and grasp their program and show that you want to learn and produce for the company, your possibilities are endless."

Professional angler Janet Parker, Driver of the Aaron's Dream Machine Ranger Boat was on hand Wednesday. Parker has taken the extraordinary step of donating 100% of her 2007 sponsorship money to the Wounded Warrior Project. Parker said Aaron's has committed to help her reach her goal of raising $2 million to help wounded soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. See our exclusive podcast interview with Janet Parker above.

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