Law fosters an environment of personal growth among his staff, and holds a monthly P&L meeting to make sure that everyone understands the economic ramifications of their daily business decisions.
Excerpt from RTO Magazine's RTO Excellence Profile of Larry Law - See excerpt below

Watch your mailbox for the September issue of RTO Magazine. Download E-Book or Read online at www.RTOmagazine.com

The content-packed September, 2007 issue of RTO Magazine, the leading print trade publication in the home-goods Rent-to-Own and leasing sectors, is arriving in mailboxes.

The first ever "RTO How To" issue features a practical guide for common issues facing rent-to-own industry professionals.

Also in this issue, RTO Magazine features an expanded RTO Excellence profile of Larry Law, Washington State Aaron's Franchisee. See excerpt below

Issues covered include:

-- How To Retain Your Best RTO Employees; 16 Cost-Effective Ways To Grow A Company Culture That Helps You Keep Your Keepers
-- How To Build Home Entertainment Revenues
-- How To Choose the Right Site and Negotiate the Best Lease
-- How To Increase Store Profit Selling Home Phone Service
-- How To Extend The Life Of Your Rental Furniture
-- How To Plan An Effective Direct Mail Campaign
-- How To Manage RTO Cash Flow
-- How To Build The Ultimate RTO Customer Experience: Eight Surprisingly Simple Ways To Wow Your Customers—and Keep Them Coming Back.

In addition, the September issue features interviews with;

-- Peter Krideras, National Marketing & Merchandise Manager for Radio Rentals of New South Wales, Australia
-- Michael Garner, SEADRA - South East Automobile Dealers Rental Association
-- Mike Moore, President, NewAvenues Rentals
-- Gloria Homeier-Schwein, Owner, A Full House Rentals
-- Mike Novembrino, Curry Real Estate Services

As always, RTO Magazine gives readers 3 viewing options; Watch your mailbox, Download interactive E-Book or read online at www.RTOmagazine.com.

RTO Magazine (www.rtomagazine.com) is published by RTO Online Inc. (www.rtoonline.com), the leading source of news and information for the rent-to-own industry. The company publishes two vendor directories per year.

Excerpt from Law and Order; RTO Excellence Profile of Aaron's Franchisee Larry Law

Larry and Cindy Law.

When Larry Law asked his wife Cindy to accompany him on an Atlanta trip to investigate opening an Aaron’s location, she immediately questioned his judgment. After all, Law had just retired after selling his wholesale lumber business and could have chosen to do anything – or nothing. But Law’s interest in the Aaron’s concept was piqued by an ad he read in a business journal.

"I remembered reading in a separate article how Aaron’s was held up as a good example for the rental industry. They had bigger stores, different merchandise, and now they were looking for franchisees in this area of the country. They had no presence in Washington. The closest stores were in Portland, Oregon," recalled Law.

During their visit to Atlanta, the Law’s were impressed enough by founder Charlie Loudermilk to buy a franchise which the couple opened in Bremerton, Washington.

"It was 1999 when we opened. Bremerton is a big military town with a large naval shipyard and large nuclear submarine bases. We felt this was the best location for the first store in the market."

But the first store didn’t ramp up quite the way Law had hoped.

"I did everything wrong. I thought I had a better mousetrap and as a result we started out very slowly. Back in 1999, Aaron’s was still learning the franchisor program themselves so we sort of went through that process together."

But Law says that after 15 or 16 months, several employees, and a couple of marketing adjustments later, things began to turn the corner.

"We were the first store in this area. We could have been called Fred’s, it wouldn’t have mattered. We had absolutely no name recognition. So we started to do a lot more promoting, knocking on doors. We learned our customers did not read the paper, but they do read their mail so we switched our marketing to reach them better. Plus, I had to change managers twice early on. Finally, I just went to our closest competitor and hired their manager away. He knew the business, the marketplace and most important, the customers knew him."

Tacoma crew: Left to right - Tony Crump, Ala Mamea, Ron Lal, James Crawford, Roberto Bonilla, Mario Cruz, Brandon Christian.

That manager is still with Law seven years later, and is currently running one of Law’s most successful locations. Being able to not only hire the right people, but also retain them, has been a hallmark of the success of Law’s Hayes Financial Corporation, dba Aaron’s Sales & Lease Ownership. Law currently employs 47 full-time associates.

"Our success is definitely due to our people. Our employees will tell you they work at Aaron’s, but they work for Hayes Financial Corporation. We’ve worked hard to build a culture where employees know they are appreciated. They are empowered. There’s never been a mistake made that we can’t correct. There’s no decision that we can’t live through. If it’s wrong, we’ll fix it down the road."

Law fosters an environment of personal growth among his staff, and holds a monthly P&L meeting to make sure that everyone understands the economic ramifications of their daily business decisions.

"It’s important for them to know that each store is a profit center and I’m very proud of how well they’ve learned to read their P&L’s. I’ll bet that any one of our store managers could go out and teach a class on reading a P&L or a balance sheet."

While Law is generous with praise for his staff, particularly for Vice President Matt Holmes, he is equally generous with his pocketbook.

"Each quarter, 25% of our pre-tax profit is split among all employees – not just our managers. I’ve had other franchisees tell me I’m nuts, but it’s the way I keep good employees. Our compensation program definitely goes above what corporate recommends. We have many employees who came to us for a job to get them to Saturday night. Those same employees now have a career with us."

Law says his company’s profit sharing program equates to an extra $15,000 to more than $20,000 per year for store managers alone. And the opportunity to share in profits regardless of store size is spread evenly among all locations.

Law’s largest store is in Tacoma, Washington with 1,153 customers. A second Tacoma location – Law’s most profitable at a small-for-him 6,600 square feet - has 915 customers.

"Our managers’ base salary is derived from a matrix tied to the store’s monthly revenues plus revenue growth. So a smaller store may have a smaller base but higher net profits than a larger store. So that manager’s percent of profit sharing to gross income can be higher, as well."

Law’s five stores are located within about a 15-20 minute drive from one another, making it possible to visit them all frequently.

"Yesterday I went to all five stores and made it home by 3:30. When we were selecting sites I tried to locate them so that if you drew circles five miles around each one on a map they would come close, but not touch. That way the stores don’t cannibalize one another, but they are still close enough to transfer merchandise. We’re always balancing inventory among our stores."

Law’s largest store is in Tacoma, Washington with 1,153 customers. A second Tacoma location – Law’s most profitable at a small-for-him 6,600 square feet - has 915 customers. The original Bremerton store has 1,034 customers and Auburn counts 892. A fifth location, opened in February of 2006 in Kent, already has more than 900 customers.

..See the September issue of RTO Magazine for the rest of the story.

Contact:
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