Letter To The Editor
BY Larry Sutton
Send comments on this letter to LTE110204@rtoonline.com; they will be forwarded to the author

For anyone to assume that someone dropped the ball [causing Rent a Center and Rent Way to resign from APRO] or that ego played a roll in the decision, is pure gobbledygook, and nothing but a new conspiracy theory. (see letter to the editor from 10-21)

Why waste time speculating on false opinions and hearsay? Mitch Fadel (Rent a Center President) told me last week, "for the amount of money we are required to pay, we are talking hundreds of thousands of dollars here, we don't feel we get that much value back out of the investment, and our interest are not the same as that of the average APRO members." Who doesn't know that the interests of a 2,800 store company differ significantly from those of the average APRO member who has one to three stores?

These two companies resigning should not surprise anyone. How would you like to pay what these guys have been paying? When a few rental dealers got together in Dallas many years ago, they had in mind an association that could benefit the average small dealer in America. APRO's charter was not meant to serve the needs of an almost three thousand store mega-company.

It is funny how time seems to change our prospective on things. I used to hear people say they would not join APRO because it was a 'big boys club' and they thought APRO was run by the Rent-A-Centers of the world. Now, I read in RTO Online's reader feedback that a dealer will not join APRO because Rent a Center and Rent Way have left.

It seems that some people will use any excuse to not do the right thing by supporting their association. It appears there are a few that have no loyalty. Or maybe they just forgot that, because of APRO, this industry has thrived legislatively by passing favorable RTO Laws in 48 states and is close to passing a Federal Law. A feat unheard of for any industry this small, and this young. Maybe they forgot that, because of APRO, our industry was not destroyed by getting re-categorized as a retail sale for tax treatment. Had this re-categorization been allowed to take place, it would have brought this industry to it's knees. Had APRO not defended us, the RTO business as we know it today would simply not exist. Maybe they forgot that, because of APRO, state associations are thriving because APRO established the goal of getting all state associations established and active.

I wonder if your concerned reader has been to an APRO convention lately? If they have, did they notice it's not Rent a Center and Rent Way managers filling the showroom floor, seminars and vendor functions. The big companies have their own conventions and seminars which is why you do not see them at APRO. The main purpose of APRO has always been, and will continue to be, to support the Rent to Own Industry and provide a platform for the small dealers of America. APRO has met that challenge beyond anyone’s imagination and continue to get better every year.

The driving force behind APRO's success over the years is the leadership of Bill Keese and Ed Winn. These two gentlemen have dedicated their lives so that we may have a healthy industry. Many top leaders of our industry have willingly given their time serving as board members, executive committee members and office holders to help make our industry great. Their names are too numerous to mention, but we as an industry owe them, and the employees of APRO, all the support we can provide.

Rent-A-Center and Rent Way are both great companies. I commend them and thank them for their past support of APRO. While I wish they would not have chosen to leave the association, I can understand why they might choose to do so. But what I cannot understand, what I will never understand, is how any RTO Dealer with less than 100 stores could chose not to be a member an association that has provided all of us a safe haven in which to operate our business.

Yes, there will be less money for the association. New budgets had to be drawn up. Several very hard personnel decisions had to be made, and made quickly. This just demonstrates the benefit all of us were getting by having Rent-A-Center and Rent Way as members; maybe they figured that out! Our association will not only survive, but move forward and continue to look out for our interest, as they always have.

If you are a Rent to Own dealer that is not currently an APRO member, now is the time for you to get involved. Not only can you join, but you can serve as a board member and make sure your voice is heard. If you are not a member, then you have no voice and, to be blunt, "SHAME ON YOU!" I wonder if you sneak into football games without a valid ticket, or maybe you’re the guy who snuck into the back door of the movies when you were growing up!

We are all here doing business because of the past efforts of APRO. If history teaches us anything, it is that our enemies will return to haunt us once again. I don’t know about you, but I for one am glad to be a part of what I believe is the best association in America, APRO.

Sincerely,
Larry Sutton
Send comments on this letter to LTE110204@rtoonline.com; they will be forwarded to the author

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