ColorTyme dealers from around the country will gather at the Hyatt Regency DFW in Dallas, Texas January 22 - 25, 2005 for the company's Winter Operations Meeting and tradeshow.

"The Winter Operations Meeting provides an opportunity for ColorTyme franchisees to exchange ideas and be recognized for outstanding performance," said Bob Bloom, President and Chief Executive Officer of ColorTyme. ColorTyme will present regional and national awards at the show. "We're honored to count some of the world's greatest RTO operators among our franchisees," added Bloom.

Bob Bloom, President and Chief Executive Officer, ColorTyme

Not Your Daddy's ColorTyme
Since taking a firm grip on the 25 year old company after being named CEO in June, 2004, Bob Bloom has overseen tremendous change in the country's oldest RTO franchise.

Among the more exciting developments is the Payday Loan program being developed for franchisees. ColorTyme announced it was developing a Payday Loan system last month. (see story). Sam Lowe, VP Operations for the 300 store chain, hints at even more exciting opportunities. "We're leveraging our knowledge and resources to develop multiple revenue streams for our franchisees," said Lowe. He added, "ColorTyme's future has never been brighter."

ColorTyme also updated it's website. The new site, www.colortyme.com, solves a longstanding issue with the company's web presence; How to serve a large number of consumers as well as current/potential franchisees from a single domain. The new site simply and effectively routes traffic with a clean intro page. (screen shot at left)

The History Of Bloom
A self described "proponent of participatory leadership," Bloom is widely recognized for his ability to revitalize multi-unit operations. After a 16 year stint with Ponderosa Steakhouse, Bloom entered the rent-to-own industry with Thorn America in 1990 where he served as vice president of franchising, operation’s administration and as the divisional vice president of rural stores.

In 2000, Mr. Bloom joined Ezcorp, Inc., the second largest pawn chain in the U.S. as senior Senior Vice President of Operations. While there, Bloom oversaw the opening of 50 new stores in nine months, the introduction of payday loans and took the company’s net income from a $32 million loss to $8.6 million profit in four years.

Behind The Scenes
For the past 25 years, Global Enterprises, Inc. (GEI) has coordinated ColorTyme events and tradeshows. Kara Cox, event coordinator for GEI told RTO Online the three keys for successful event planning are details, communication, and more details.

"One of the reasons ColorTyme has a successful convention is the open communication between ColorTyme, GEI, attendees and vendors," said Cox. "We spend a great deal of time checking, and then double-checking all the registration forms. Cox added that GEI confirms information directly with attendees and vendors.

The devil is in the details. "GEI also reviews the details with ColorTyme for the meeting set-up, food and beverage, transportation to the bowling tournament, audio visual and other areas of importance to ensure that the Winter Operations Meeting is a huge success," Cox said. "We are on-site for the Winter Operations Meeting to handle registration, questions, trade show, confirm set-ups and handle any pop-up situations that may arise. We are there to assist ColorTyme, its attendees and vendors in any way possible."