Rent-to-own News - Rent One rolls out Harley, new store for 25th anniversary bash

Murray Beck, Trent Agin, Col. Chris Lawson, Larry Carrico and Mark Williams at Rent One's 2010 managers meeting.

Rent One is celebrating its 25th anniversary today at the company's annual business meeting in Cape Girardeau, Missouri where more than 100 managers, their families and vendor partners are expected.

To commemorate the historic achievement, Rent One will raffle off a Harley Davidson motorcycle to one lucky customer this July as part of its annual "Customer Appreciation Days" campaign. Rent One meeting attendees will get a sneak peak at the bike this afternoon at the annual company meeting where outstanding Rent One leaders -- including manager and vendor of the year -- will be honored at a special awards banquet Wednesday.

Rent One, which opened its first store in 1985 in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, also announced plans to open its 50th store this April in Batesville, Arkansas. Rent One is one of the largest independent RTO companies in the industry.

"I didn't really anticipate having 50 stores in 25 years," said Rent One owner and founder Larry Carrico. "But you grow as the people around you grow. We grow with our people and we've got great leadership in our company."

Carrico said he got the idea for the Harley raffle from fellow RTO dealer Dale Frederick. The promotion will also take place on Rent One's newly launched Facebook page.

"We hope to use it to help launch our new Facebook page and build a solid Rent One social networking community with our customers," Carrico said.

Rent One managers will also take part in extensive operations updates on the company's information systems, HR, health and wellness program updates in addition to educational breakout sessions on personal finance, hunting for new business and increasing sales.

The meeting will also feature guest speaker Colonel Chris Lawson, Chief of the Joint Staff for the Illinois National Guard. He is a veteran of Operation Enduring Freedom and is the co-founder of the National Guard Operation Your Choice Youth Program, the National Center for Youth Professionals and Lawson Professional Dynamics and has trained over 3,000 teachers and intervention specialists over the past decade and  provided programs for over 10,000 youth.