Evans says he will be opening three rent-to-own stores in the area, and he doesn't fear the competition even though Augusta has more than a dozen such stores.

Bud Evans (left) with ColorTyme Director of Franchising Jim Deering at a recent RimTyme grand opening in Plano, Texas (see story).

Even though he was a successful Realtor and the General Manager of a major car dealership, Bud Evans often thought about the good old days – his years as the owner of a rent-to-own (RTO) franchise store.

"I grew up working in a small-town, mom-and-pop furniture-and-appliance store," Evans says. "Back then we offered a rental-purchase option for customers who needed a flexible payment schedule. We were offering RTO long before it became a recognized industry."

Evans says he was the first Aaron Rents, Inc. franchisee in the early '90s, "so my first thought was to go back there," he says. "I wanted to own my own franchise in Augusta, my hometown, but there are a lot of corporate-owned RTO stores here. So I called some of my old buddies from the RTO days. I found out they'd all gone with ColorTyme."

Evans says he will be opening three rent-to-own stores in the area, and he doesn't fear the competition even though Augusta has more than a dozen such stores. "My ColorTyme store will offer a better selection of products and a much higher level of personal service than the others," Evans says. "I know this business. I love this business and the customers it serves, and I love the camaraderie of a 'home-town' store in the community.

"These days, people are looking for ways to get the products they need without having to pay cash up-front, making a big down payment, or using credit," Evans says. "Sometimes people need to pay for things as they use them, or as they receive their paycheck at work – week by week or month by month. At ColorTyme, we give them those options."

Evans says that since all the publicly-traded RTO chains reported profits last quarter, he can't think of a better industry than RTO for a new retail store. "In a tough economy, consumers are looking for a range of choices to get the things they need. Rent-to-own stores give people a range of buying options, plus it's a profitable, successful business model for a small businessman," he says.

Evans added that as a potential franchisee, ColorTyme offered him a hard-to-beat proposition. "You get a lot of flexibility and support at ColorTyme, not only when it comes to choosing a store location, but with financing, training and on-going marketing support," he says. "Since they're the oldest franchise company in the industry, ColorTyme knows what it takes for a franchisee to be successful, and they share that wealth of knowledge with you."

About ColorTyme
ColorTyme, Inc. is America's oldest franchisor of independently owned-and-operated rent-to-own stores, celebrating its 30th birthday anniversary in 2009. Currently, ColorTyme franchisees operate 212 rent-to-own/rental-purchase stores in 34 states. RimTyme, the company's custom-wheels-and-tires franchise brand, operates an additional 18 stores in eight states. ColorTyme is headquartered in the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas, and is an independent, wholly owned subsidiary of the largest RTO company in the world, Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ: RCII). For more information, visit www.colortyme.com.