 APRO: The Official Voice of the Rent to Own Industry
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APRO's Exclusive Rent-to-own Video
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Rent to own Video: 2009 APRO Customer of The Year
This Rent to Own Video brought to you by APRO's RTOHQ.org 
Sherron and Robert Wilder, Rent-A-Center Customers since 1992, are in the business of helping others.
From their Safe Haven programs for children, to their current outreach mission for the homeless, the Wilders' impact on Benton Harbor, Michigan and those who have fallen on hard times continues to resonate. For the past 17 years, the Wilders have been on a public service mission to help the men, women and children suffering under the weight of homelessness, abuse and despair. And that mission coincides with the couple's experience with Rent-A-Center for a reason. "When we opened our safe haven for children in the State Theatre, we needed everything, a stove, refrigerator, furniture, where else are we going for things like that. That's when our relationship with Rent-A-Center began." The Wilders again called on rent-to-own to furnish their Prevention Summer Camp and again to provide furniture for their Forgotten Men Outreach Ministries program which includes a homeless shelter and day camp. A shelter and day camp for homeless men -- the home houses up to eight at a time with the Wilders living downstairs below the housing quarters. Sherron Wilder feeds up to 35 men and women per month through the ministry and cooks all the meals. The men can stay in the ministry for up to one year, during which the Wilders help educate them about how to find permanent housing. Sherron Wilder knows exactly what she will buy with the $1,000 RTO Customer of the Year prize: A new hot water heater for the shelter, something the home has been without since the couple moved in. Jim Bezjian, assistant manager for the Benton Harbor Rent-A-Center, who has worked with the Wilders for over a year, granted the couple and their mission yet another blessing. Bezjian pledged to contribute his $500 award for nominating the Rent-T-Own Customer of the Year to the Wilders' ministry. The RTO 2009 Customer of the Year contest hosted by the Association of Progressive Rental Organizations was created to honor the rent-to-own customer that best exemplifies the humanity and giving spirit within the rent-to-own industry. | |
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2012 APRO Convention and Trade Show July 24-26, Memphis, TN
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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.
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Association of Progressive Rental Organizations 1504 Robin Hood Trail Austin, Texas 78703 800/204-2776, ext. 103 Fax 512/794-0097 |