3 ms·

also known as financing on credit cards.

• csours 3y ago
  To my understanding Rent to Own was around significantly earlier than the popular usage of credit cards: "Development of the Rent-to-Own Concept: 1950s The roots of the rent-to-own business reach back to the 1950s when a number of people pioneered the concept. For instance, Charles Loudermilk, Sr., founder of Atlanta-based Aaron Rents, started out in 1955 by renting Army surplus chairs for ten cents a day. The founder of Rent-A-Center was J. Ernest Talley, widely acknowledged as the most influential figure in the development of the industry. In the 1950s he ran a retail appliance store with a cousin in Kansas. Because tightening bank credit prevented a number of customers from buying his merchandise, he hit on the idea of renting the items. If customers failed to meet the payments, he could always repossess the merchandise; if they reached the end of the rental agreement, they would own the merchandise and Talley would have made some extra cash in addition to increasing the sales volume of his appliance store. In 1963 he developed a rent-to-own chain called Mr. T’s, which by 1974 had grown to 14 stores. He sold the business, which became part of the Remco chain, and he turned his attention to commercial real estate in the Dallas area. When the Texas real estate market suffered a crash he returned to the rent-to-own concept in 1987, establishing Talley Leasing with his son Michael. The new company rented appliances to apartment complex owners." Source: https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-magazines/rent-center-inc https://www.encyclopedia.com/books/politics-and-business-mag...