I was taught to keep things simple and take care of daily business, such as store cleanliness, employee dress, the look of the store and other basic good business practices.
Ron Manzoori, Premier Rental-Purchase Franchisee

L-R Ron Manzoori and Scott Craig

Scott Craig and Ron Manzoori want to give Connecticut rent-to-own customers a higher level of service. The pair recently opened their first Premier Rental-Purchase store in Naugatuck. The location has a larger than average showroom and is open seven days per week but Craig and Manzoori feel their real edge comes from an ability as independent owner/operators to put a greater emphasis on customer service.

Craig owned video stores before becoming involved in rental-purchase 13 years ago as a manager trainee with one of the large RTO chains. Within a year, Craig had put his first store, which was on the list to close, in the top 100. He was promoted rapidly and became a district manager in just three years. "I was bounced around to clean up problem stores. The experience was invaluable." Having the right people, the right attitude and paying close attention to store appearance and customer relations were his priorities. "That got tougher and tougher to do because of strict corporate policy. I also found that because our stores were opening in close proximity to one another, we were competing against ourselves. It got very frustrating."

Craig says he spent two years mulling it over and concluded that the only way to run an RTO operation like he felt it should be run was to open his own store. "I saw so much potential in the industry and began thinking about spending that hard work on myself again rather than another company."

Craig had been watching Premier Rental-Purchase and reading about it in the industry magazines and online news broadcasts over the years (see Premier video broadcasts here). He had spoken with Trooper Earle, President/CEO for The Premier Companies, and was impressed by the growth of the franchise organization. "The percentages were making sense," he said. "Premier was a lot less expensive to get involved with. Plus they offered independence and appreciated individuality. That was very attractive to me." In addition to exploring his options with Premier, Craig contacted his longtime friend and fellow district manager Ron Manzoori.

Manzoori entered the rental-purchase industry as a fast track manager in 1991 after owning restaurants in Connecticut. Soon he became a multi-unit manager and was running four different markets. He credits his success to his early mentors in the business. "I was taught to keep things simple and take care of daily business, such as store cleanliness, employee dress, the look of the store and other basic good business practices. I was also taught that numbers are important, but the process that produces the numbers is the key."

When Craig approached him with talk of partnering in a Premier franchise, "It felt like a good idea," said Mazoori. "I didn't want to do it on my own and Scott had done his homework."

Manzoori, like Craig, was impressed by Premier's growth and the freedom of its franchisees to do what they needed to do to take care of customers. He talked to dealers and vendors at the 2008 Premier convention in San Antonio and liked the thought that the small guy could cut through the red tape and run his business. Craig and Manzoori made their decision to join the Premier family as franchisees and "have been absolutely happy with the decision," said Craig. "We found everyone at Premier to be helpful from start to finish with what could have been an intimidating process of opening our store. From supplying vendor contacts, to human resources, to support on some tricky real estate issues, the Premier team helped us prepare an excellent business plan to take to the bank for financing. I don't think we could have done it on our own."

Business has been good, according to Craig and Manzoori. They expected nothing less, especially with their orientation toward customer service, the size of their showroom and hours – and the multi-media advertising campaign that has effectively spread the word. They feel no other store in town can rival them and no experience can rival that of business ownership.

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