Childers says, other than a six week lead time for merchandise that is shipped in containers, Rent to own is the same everywhere, even in the great white North.

ColorTyme Franchisee Mark Childers at this weeks ColorTyme Winter Operations Meeting in Dallas, Texas.

The 18th annual ColorTyme Winter Operations Meeting (WOM) kicked off Saturday with a day of training and teambuilding. CTU, ColorTyme University, held a day long training session with store managers, while company President Bob Bloom led owners through the Presidential Roundtable, a forum for owners to discuss what works, what doesn't and plan effective strategies for the coming year.

The day was capped off by a Casino night. See a complete photo gallery (117 pics ) of the Training Sessions and ColorTyme Casino night here.

One franchisee attending the event is Mark Childers. Mark owns four ColorTyme locations, one in Washington and three in Alaska - Fairbanks, Wasilla and Anchorage. He says, other than a six week lead time for merchandise that is shipped in containers, Rent to own is the same everywhere, even in the great white North.

Childers’ career in the rent-to-own industry began when he took a summer job delivering furniture as a student at Texas A & M University in the early 1980s. While working for the College Station, Texas, ColorTyme franchisee, decided to turn rent-to-own (RTO) into a career. He made the move to ColorTyme’s corporate headquarters in 1989, becoming a regional training director. By 1992, Childers wanted to take advantage of ColorTyme’s franchising program and planned to open two stores in Montana. His future partner, Gary Hughes, was also opening ColorTyme stores in the Northwest and approached Childers about working together. The pair had a long and profitable partnership, eventually selling 27 locations in 2005. The sale had a non-compete clause, so Childers headed North to Alaska.

If the podcast did not start automatically, listen to the interview with Mark Childers, ColorTyme franchisee, here (11:20).