Eventually, the company, which is the largest sales and lease ownership retailer in the US, could exceed 3,000 stores, Loudermilk said. "I don't know why we can't have a location right next to every Wal-Mart," he added. "We're offering the Wal-Mart customer big-ticket items that they can't buy at Wal-Mart."
By adding 250 new stores in 2006, Aaron Rents will be increasing its store base by 15%. Today, the company has about 1,200 stores in 48 states. The company has doubled its store base in just a few years, adding 16% to its store base in 2005.
"We have a rapidly growing franchise base with a large pipeline to enter new markets," Loudermilk said. "The franchisees accelerate our growth and allow us to get into markets faster than we would with company-owned stores."
Most of Aaron Rents' stores are larger than its competitors, Loudermilk noted. At 9,000 sf, each store offers a selection of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics and appliances and targets the credit-constrained consumers, allowing them to rent to own on a monthly basis. "We are a hybrid of weekly rent-to-own and monthly credit retailing," he explained.
Aaron Rents has achieved strong financial performance over the past several years with same-stores sales in the high single-digits or low double-digits. In 2005, the company reached $1.1 billion in revenues, a 22% increase from 2004.
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