Willie Talley, Founder of ColorTyme.
Inset: Bob Bloom (left) and Mitch Fadel.
From console rent to own TV sets
to high definition flat panels,
ColorTyme has made significant
progressions in its business over the last 30 years. This year
marks ColorTyme's 30th anniversary in business.
The company has come a long way since 1979, when ColorTyme
Founder Willie Talley partnered with Curtis Mathes to offer
customers a new, rent to own TV option and opened the first
ColorTyme store in Athens, Texas. Talley and his new business
partners bought the company from Curtis Mathes the following
year and began a successful franchise program in 1982.
"All Willie cared about was the franchisees being
successful," said Mitch Fadel, former ColorTyme CEO from 1992 to
2000, who currently serves as the COO for ColorTyme's parent
company, Rent-A-Center.
Rhonda Davis, ColorTyme director of purchasing, who joined
ColorTyme in the Athens, Texas store 28 years ago, said
ColorTyme has always offered a personal, family environment for
its customers and its employees.
"We weren't just co-workers, we were friends," said Davis.
"We believed in Willie and the business, and he took good care
of us. Now that Willie is gone, we do our best to take care of
each other and our customers."
20 Year ColorTyme franchisee Larry
Hill talks about how the company has changed over the
decades.
ColorTyme was built on the belief in "people helping people,"
and it credits its success to the continued practice of this
principle with its customers, franchisees and the communities it
serves.
"Rent to own is all about helping people -- helping them rent
a refrigerator, rent a computer or rent to own TVs -- helping
them improve their quality of life," said Bob Bloom, president
and CEO of ColorTyme. "Likewise, at ColorTyme, we help our
franchisees, and our franchisees all help one another. It really
is all about people helping people. Our franchisees and our
leadership team are and will continue to be the core and
strength of this company."
In 2004, ColorTyme began the "Your Hometown ColorTyme"
branding campaign across its franchise network to emphasize
every store is locally owned or operated, providing a more
personalized, neighborly, customer-service experience. As a part
of this branding initiative, ColorTyme launched a new and
improved website, designed to allow customers to view products
and specials specific to their hometown ColorTyme store, to
complete a short product interest form or rental agreement from
the convenience of their home, and to opt-in to receive e-mail
specials. In addition, ColorTyme revamped its stores' decor in
2007 to look more inviting and retail-esque, with warmer colors
and flooring you might see in someone's home.
Today, ColorTyme has more than 200 stores in 33 states and
offers customers a variety of rent to own options -- furniture
rental, appliances rental, electronics rental, and rent to own
computers, as well as pay day loans in select stores. RimTyme, a
custom-wheels-and-tires franchise brand which ColorTyme opened
in 2007, now operates 25 stand-alone stores in 11 states. The
company's rent to own franchise network continues to grow, and
ColorTyme continues to work on new, future revenue sources for
its franchisees.
ColorTyme, Inc., founded in 1979, is America's oldest
franchisor of independently owned-and-operated rent-to-own
stores. ColorTyme franchisees operate 206 rent-to-own stores in
33 states, and the company's custom-wheels-and-tires franchise
brand, RimTyme, operates 25 stores in 11 states. ColorTyme is
headquartered in Plano, Texas, and is an independent, wholly
owned subsidiary of the largest RTO company in the world,
Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII).
RTO Online is the official channel for Rent-to-Own Industry News and the
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of the entire RTO Industry for trusted information, as it happens.
All Willie
cared about was the franchisees being successful.
