Rent-to-own News

Rent-to-own News - Kathy Ireland is new BrandSource spokesperson

March 8, 2011

Kathy Ireland with UHR Rents' Ernie Lewallen at the TRIB Group Convention and Buy Fair last month.

TRIB Group’s affiliated retail buying group, AVB/Brand Source, has announced a deal with Kathy Ireland in which Ireland will become the new spokeswoman for the brand.

Kathy Ireland is an American former-model, actress, entrepreneur, CEO and designer of her eponymous brand product marketing company, Kathy Ireland Worldwide.

Ireland will fill the role of brand ambassador for Brand Source and will also assist in product development for the buying group. Ireland, who has her own furniture line, will collaborate with Brand Source to expand her collections into Brand Source member stores.

The focus of Ireland’s outreach will include product marketing to women and those who use the Internet and social media as an information tool.

Ireland has already began her work as brand ambassador at February’s TRIB Group and Brand Source Convention, February 20-22nd at the Marriott World Center in Orlando where Ireland visited the TRIB Group buy fair floor and greeted members.

The Rental Industry Buying Group (TRIB Group) was established in 1983 and is currently the largest member owned buying cooperative in the nation specifically for the RTO industry. TRIB Group’s membership is currently 152 member companies representing over 3,000 storefronts nationwide and is proud to be a strategic alliance partner with AVB/Brand Source.

About APRO
The Association of Progressive Rental Organizations is the official voice of the rent-to-own industry and the most accurate and trustworthy source of rent-to-own news in the industry. Founded in 1980, APRO is the national, nonprofit trade association advocating and representing the rent-to-own industry before the U.S. Congress, state legislatures, courts, media and the public.

For more information, visit www.rtohq.org.

2012 APRO Convention and Trade Show

July 24-26, Memphis, TN

Attendee Information

Exhibitor Information

Thank you APRO 2012 Sponsors

Watch RTOHQ Rent to Own videos on YouTube!

Featured APRO Photo:
From the ColorTyme Convention January 19-21, 2009, Frisco, Texas Album
ColorTyme Convention January 19-21, 2009, Frisco, Texas
View All RTO Photos
in the RTOHQ.org gallery

RTOHQ: The Magazine
RTOHQ: The Magazine is the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations' award-winning rent-to-own industry magazine, and it's available here.

CLICK HERE FOR OUR DIGITAL RTOHQ: THE MAGAZINE

RTOHQ: The Magazine’s upgraded digital format

APRO's new, mobile-ready magazine is now available in addition to our print edition. The digital format provides the same informative content as our printed magazine, but also offers tools to make the reading experience more enriching. Access the table of contents page with one click or tap. Get additional information from advertisers by clicking on the links in their ads. The interface is easy to navigate and requires no special app—read our magazine on your computer, digital table or smartphone. Click here to access the digital version of RTOHQ: The Magazine March-April 2012.

A New Rent-to-Own Experience

by Neil Ferguson

Here’s the lowdown on APRO’s 2012 Convention and Trade Show, July 24-26 in Memphis. The RTO industry’s big event will offer many valuable experiences, including insights on how to turn your stores into “experiences”–the good kind for consumers

Who Is Your Competition?

by Bill Keese

In order to expand your customer base, you can learn a lot by observing your competitors. But first, you need to figure out just who they are. If you think your only competition is the rent-to-own store down the street, you’re not considering the bigger picture. APRO’s executive director offers a big-picture perspective.

A Review of Online Customer Complaints

by Ed Winn III

While rent-to-own companies have not cornered the market on negative reviews posted on consumer complaint websites, it’s no surprise that there are cyberspace beefs against RTO. APRO’s general counsel reviews some of them in search of a pattern and he considers appropriate response to online complaints.

Rent-to-Own Families, Part VIII

by Kristen Card

Our series of family-run rent-to-own businesses continues with profiles of the Homeiers in Kansas and two Texas-based sets of kindred colleagues, the Spangles and the Weisblatts.

Future issues of APRO's magazine will be available in this same new format. Click here to access past issues that are not yet archived in the new interface.

Association of Progressive Rental Organizations
1504 Robin Hood Trail
Austin, Texas 78703
800/204-2776, ext. 103
Fax 512/794-0097