It's a whole different thing to run stores for others and then do it for you.
Matt Koen,

(L-R) Donna and Jim Singleton, Matt and Cindy Koen with Joshua, Bethany, Christiana, Zion & Noah.

Opening a Premier Rental-Purchase franchise had been a dream of Matt and Cindy Koen's since Matt, an industry veteran, first brought home an issue of RTO Magazine that featured Trooper Earle. They both read the article, and after Matt spoke with Trooper, they started to believe that this was really something they could do. That was in 2005.

Earlier this year, thanks to their partnership with Cindy's parents, Jim and Donna Singleton, that dream became a reality. They opened their first Premier Rental-Purchase franchise as Top Gun Rentals, Inc. in Pueblo, Colorado.

"Jim called me a couple of years ago when negotiations fell through on a Christian radio station that he and Donna had made an offer on and hoped we would help them run," says Matt. "He knew we had thought about opening an RTO store and asked if we were still interested in buying a Premier franchise. When they told me how much they believed in me and offered to invest the money for our cash injection, we were thrilled! Suddenly something that had seemed like a far off dream that would take us years to save for began to seem achievable."

Matt had gained his experience in the rent-to-own industry while working for Rent-A-Center. He began his successful career in October of 1998 as an account manager and set both collections and sales records in the coming years before becoming I/O manager and winning the "Top Gun" award for a record he set of 308 individual sales in a single quarter. As both assistant manager and later store manager, Matt was instrumental in the exponential growth of three stores as well as in training several other "Top Gun" award winners. His greatest success was at the RAC store he left in December of 2007 to open his Premier franchise. He was responsible for growing an established but struggling store's BOR from 560 to 930 and their revenue from $72,000/month to $105,000/month.

With his new store's BOR already at 400 in its first few months, Matt gives all the credit to God and the support of family. "If this is where we are during the industry's slowest quarter, I know growth will explode once we hit September and beyond," said Matt. "God has blessed me with the talent to succeed in this business, and I know with His help we will shine. That is why we chose the name ‘Top Gun'. It really stands for the success that I had at Rent-a-Center, and whenever we have a slow or stressful day, it keeps me going! We all really pulled together to get this thing going. I am so grateful for all of the help that I had from Cindy, Jim, Donna and my brother-in-law, Oliver (who works for us). I can't imagine what it would have been like if I had to do this alone. Donna and Oliver work at the store full time and Cindy and Jim do a lot of behind-the-scenes work. Doing something you love with family there to help and support is invaluable."

Matt had glowing praise for the help he received from Premier Rental-Purchase and its president/CEO Trooper Earle. "Premier doesn't require its franchisees to run a corporate store. They want you to operate your store the way you think you should, the way you know you can succeed. Yet, they are willing to help with everything. And Premier has the best support team."

Matt emphasizes that it's really been a learning process. "It's a whole different thing to run stores for others and then do it for you. The time I spent going through the process of opening was worth it. Premier's training is extensive because they want you to succeed. I made sure to take careful notes so I'm ready to open my second store and avoid the pitfalls!"

The national office of Premier Rental-Purchase is located in Williamsburg, Virginia. All Premier stores are independently owned and operated. Visit Premier's website at www.premierrents.net or call (800) 2-Premier and ask for Trooper Earle.