The rent-to-own industry was spurred into the U.S. marketplace through the entrepreneurial spirit of small business. Throughout the decades, though, the rent-to-own industry has evolved from a group of independent small-business owners to an almost even split between corporate rent-to-own and small-business rent-to-own. Today, the ratio is 51 percent corporate rent-to-own reflecting three public companies – Aaron’s, RentWay and Rent-A-Center – and 49 percent independent small-business rent-to-own reflecting 2,300 independent companies.

The current corporate growth of the industry is an 8 percent rise from 1999, when the public company corporate rent-to-own industry was split 43 percent corporate and 57 percent independent. In the five years following 1999, Rent-A-Center engaged in an aggressive acquisition campaign that ended when it purchased Rainbow Rentals in May 2004. However, with the recent consolidation of the corporate rent-to-own industry, a new phase of small-business owners and store openings into the rent-to-own industry has emerged.

“The introduction of rent-to-own companies on Wall Street does add a new aggressive acquisition component to the growth and look of our industry,” says APRO Executive Director Bill Keese. “But according to recent statistics, heavy acquisitions lead to an influx of new, independent small-business operators coming into the industry. And it is the independent, small-business spirit that still drives the industry to continually improve, evolve and innovate the rent-to-own industry to better serve their customers.”