Aaron's, Inc. is a lease-to-own retailer. The company focuses on leases and retail sales of furniture, electronics, appliances, and computers. It is divided into three major divisions: sales and lease ownership; corporate furnishings; and manufacturing. The incorporation of manufacturing as well as retailing makes the company vertically integrated.
Locations
As of 31 December 2012, Aaron's, Inc. has 2,073 stores: 1,324 Company-operated stores in 29 states and 749 independently owned franchised stores in 48 states and Canada. broken down of Company-operated stores as follows:
- 1,246 Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership stores, includes 19 Company-operated RIMCO stores
- 78 HomeSmart stores
History
Aaron Rents, Inc. was founded by R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. in 1955.
In September 2008, Aaron's announced the sale of its Corporate Furnishings division to CORT Business Services, part of Berkshire Hathaway. Aaron's Corporate Furnishings division, which operated 47 stores, had recorded revenues of approximately $99 million in 2007. Within the last quarter of 2012 Aaron's opened its 2000th store. In November of 2014 Aaron's announced that John W. Robinson III will take over the CEO position of the company from Ronald W. Allen.
Controversy
In February 2013, customers sued Aaron's for allegedly using spyware on rented computers to send over 185,000 emails to the rental company, including customers' Social Security numbers, passwords and captured keystrokes, as well as images including pictures of nude children and people having sex. Aaron's, Inc. officials had previously said that the company had not installed the spyware, and individual franchisees were responsible. In October 2013, Aaron's agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that limited how it used monitoring technology and ordered it to delete customer information that had been improperly collected.
Sponsorships
- NASCAR racing: Aaron's sponsors the No. 55 "Aaron's Dream Machine", driven by Brian Vickers in NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series. They also sponsor Ken Butler III, a decision that has been criticized because he is the son of Ken Butler, Jr, the former Chief Operating Officer of Aaron's. Aaron's was also the namesake of the spring race at Talladega Superspeedway, the Aaron's 499, along with the Nationwide Series spring race at the track, the Aaron's 312, from 2002 to 2014.
- National Hot Rod Association NHRA Racing: Aaron's sponsors Don Schumacher racing in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series. They sponsor Funny Car driver Jack Beckman and Top Fuel driver Antron Brown.
References
References
- Plunkett, Jack W. (December 2007). Plunkett's Retail Industry Almanac 2008. ISBN 1-59392-101-2.
External links
- Official website
- Aaron's Sales and Lease Ownership website
- Aaron's Office Furniture website
- RIMCO
- Home Staging by Aaron's - Home Staging Furniture Fulfilled by Aaron's
- HOMESMART - Subsidiary of Aaron's Inc.
- Aaron Inc SEC Filings
Interesting Informations
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