American lease-to-own company
The Aaron's Company, Inc.
is an American
lease-to-own
retailer. The company focuses on leases and retail sales of
furniture
,
electronics
,
appliances
, and
computers.
The company sells through the company-operated and franchised stores, e-commerce platform (Aarons.com)
[2]
[3]
Locations
[
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]
As of 31 December 2020
[update]
, the Aaron's Company has 1,340 stores: 1,092 company-operated stores (in 43 states and Canada) and 248 independently owned and operated franchised stores in 35 states and Canada.
[4]
History
[
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]
Aaron Rents, Inc. was founded by R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. in 1955.
[5]
In September 2008, Aaron's announced the sale of its Corporate Furnishings division to CORT Business Services, part of
Berkshire Hathaway
. Aaron's Corporate Furnishings division, which operated 47 stores, recorded revenues of approximately $99 million in 2007.
[6]
As of December 31, 2016, Aaron's had 1,864 stores located in 28 states and the District of Columbia and Canada. In addition, they had 699 independently owned franchised stores in 46 states and Canada.
[2]
On July 29, 2020, Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. announced plans to split into two companies: PROG Holdings, Inc. and The Aaron's Company, Inc.
[7]
PROG Holdings, with the ticker symbol "PRG" (
NYSE
:
PRG
), remained in the
S&P Midcap 400
stock index but its
Global Industry Classification Standard
was changed to "Consumer Finance". The Aaron's Company continued to trade under the ticker symbol "AAN" (
NYSE
:
AAN
) but was moved into the
S&P Smallcap 600
.
[8]
In April of 2022, Aaron's purchased Brandsmart USA, a regional appliance and consumer electronics retailer, for $230 Million.
[9]
Controversy
[
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]
In February 2013, customers sued Aaron's for allegedly using
spyware
on rented computers to send over 185,000 emails to the rental company, including customers'
Social Security numbers
, passwords and captured keystrokes, as well as explicit images.
[10]
The Aaron's Company officials had previously said that the company had not installed the spyware, and individual franchisees were responsible.
[10]
In October 2013, Aaron's agreed to a settlement with the
Federal Trade Commission
that limited how it used monitoring technology and ordered it to delete customer information that had been improperly collected.
[11]
- NASCAR
racing: Aaron's entered NASCAR jumping in between multiple teams and drivers, sponsoring drivers such as
Johnny Benson Jr.
,
Kenny Wallace
, and
Hermie Sadler
. In 2008, Aaron's then became the full-time sponsor for the team
Michael Waltrip Racing
in NASCAR's
Monster Energy Cup Series
for a couple of years, sponsoring drivers such as
David Reutimann
,
Michael McDowell
,
Mark Martin
,
Brian Vickers
, and
David Ragan
in a scheme that was named the "Aaron's Dream Machine". Aaron's was also the namesake of the spring race at
Talladega Superspeedway
, the
Aaron's 499
, along with the
Xfinity Series
spring race at the track, the
Aaron's 312
, from 2002 to 2014. Aaron's also sponsored
Clint Bowyer
for a single race in Atlanta during the 2016 season. The year after, Aaron's sponsored
Michael Waltrip
in his last race.
- National Hot Rod Association
racing: Aaron's sponsored Don Schumacher Racing in the
NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series
. They sponsored Funny Car driver
Jack Beckman
and Top Fuel driver
Antron Brown
.
See also
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]
References
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]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
"US SEC: Form 10-K Aaron's, Inc"
.
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
. Retrieved
April 2,
2020
.
- ^
a
b
"AAN - Aaron's Company Inc Profile | Reuters"
.
Reuters
. Retrieved
2020-03-27
.
- ^
"CORRECTED-Aaron's acquires Progressive Finance Holdings for $700 mln"
.
Reuters
. 2014-04-15
. Retrieved
2019-09-24
.
- ^
"Aaron's 10K SEC Filing"
(PDF)
.
aarons.com
.
- ^
"Aaron Rents, Inc. Changes Name to Aaron's, Inc"
.
PR Newswire
. CCBN/Thomson Reuters. April 14, 2009. Archived from
the original
on July 15, 2012
. Retrieved
2011-05-04
.
Founded in 1955 by entrepreneur R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. and headquartered in Atlanta, Aaron's has been publicly traded since 1982.
- ^
"Aaron Rents, Inc. Sells Aaron's Corporate Furnishings Division to CORT Business Services"
.
Reuters
. 2008-09-15. Archived from
the original
on 2013-02-01.
- ^
"Aaron's Holdings To Spin-Off The Aaron's Company On November 30, 2020"
.
Forbes
. Retrieved
2021-02-18
.
- ^
"Concentrix Set to Join S&P MidCap 400; AMC Networks & The Aaron's Company to Join S&P SmallCap 600"
(PDF)
.
SPGlobal
. Retrieved
2021-02-18
.
- ^
https://www.jonesday.com/en/practices/experience/2022/04/aarons-company-to-acquire-brandsmart-usa-for-230-million
- ^
a
b
"185,000 spyware emails were sent to Aaron's computers"
.
NBC News
. February 28, 2013. Archived from
the original
on March 1, 2013
. Retrieved
March 6,
2013
.
- ^
Leon Stafford (October 23, 2013).
"Rental business Aaron's admits role in spying on customers"
. Archived from
the original
on July 9, 2017
. Retrieved
October 24,
2013
.
Sources
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External links
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]