much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . october 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message rent a center type public traded as nasdaq rcii industry home furnishings rent to own founded 1973 ; 43 years ago 1973 1986 1986 incorporated wichita kansas u.s. headquarters plano texas u.s. key people robert d. davis ceo christopher korst chief administrative officer executive vice president and general counsel guy constant cfo and executive vice president jeff white executive vice president joel mussat executive vice president strategic planning and business development ricardo cordon executive vice president mexico fred herman executive vice president accounting global controller 1 products provides furniture electronics computers and household appliances available under rent to own agreements revenue us 3.27 billion 2015 2 operating income us 1.007 billion 2015 3 net income us 866.62 million 2015 4 total assets us 1.98 billion 2015 5 total equity us 470.48 million 2015 6 number of employees 22 200 2014 7 website www.rentacenter.com rent a center commonly referred to as rac rent a centre in canada is an american public furniture and electronics rent to own company based in plano texas . 8 the company was incorporated in 1986 and as of 2014 operates approximately 2 972 company owned stores in the united states canada puerto rico and mexico accounting for approximately 35 % of the rent to own market in the united states based on store count . 7 8 rent a center s operations include 28 retail installment stores called get it now based in wisconsin ; 9 17 home choice stores in minnesota ; 15 rent to own stores in canada that go by rent a centre and better living ; and approximately 1 359 acceptance now kiosks housed within retail partner stores throughout the united states . 10 its subsidiary rent a center franchising international inc. racfi formerly known as colortyme inc. is america s first franchisor of independently owned and operated rent to own stores . its franchisees operate 162 rent to own stores in 31 states under the rent a center and colortyme brand names and the company s wheels and tires franchise brand rimtyme operates 31 stores in 13 states . 8 11 12 in 2014 fortune magazine listed rent a center at number 711 on the fortune 1000 list of the largest u.s. corporations based on revenues alone . 13 competitors include aaron s inc. easyhome best buy co. inc. and wal mart stores . 14 contents 1 history 2 business operations 2.1 philanthropy 3 reception and litigation 4 other names 5 see also 6 references history edit the rent to own business was started by johnathon talley in wichita kansas during the 1960s when he told customers of his store mr. t s rental that they had rented a washer and dryer for a long enough duration that they had paid for it in full and now owned it . 15 thomas devlin a former employee of mr. t s rental recognized the potential of renting name brand products and partnered with w. frank barton and founded the rent a center brand in wichita kansas in 1973 . 16 17 truck delivering rent a center items mark speese joined rent a center in 1979 . in 1986 mr. speese and a colleague left rent a center and started a competing business known as vista rent to own . 18 19 ernest talley then joined vista rent to own as chairman of the board of directors in 1989 and remained chairman through vista s transition to rent a center . 19 in 2001 talley retired and speese was appointed as rent a center s chairman and ceo . 20 vista rent to own changed its name to renters choice inc. in december 1993 in connection with the acquisition from def investments inc. and certain related entities of an 84 store rent to own chain operating in 12 states . 21 mark speese retired as rent a center ceo at the end of january 2014 . he continues to hold his position as chairman of the board and rent a center cfo robert davis now serves as ceo . 22 michael s. wilding rent a center s current senior vice president accounting and global controller will serve as interim chief financial officer effective february 1 2014 . renters choice went public on the nasdaq stock exchange in 1995 under the symbol rcii . 23 24 in august 1998 renters choice acquired thorn americas inc. which operated 1 474 stores in 49 states and the district of columbia under the name rent a center . on 31 december 1998 renters choice changed its name to rent a center inc. and began operating all of its stores under the rent a center brand name . 25 in february 2003 rent a center acquired 295 stores from rent way inc. 26 in march 2004 rent a center commenced operating in canada with the acquisition of five stores located in edmonton and calgary alberta . 27 later that year in may 2004 rent a center completed the acquisitions of rainbow rentals inc. and rent rite inc. 28 rent a center completed its acquisition of competitor rent way inc. on 15 november 2006 for a price of approximately 600.3 million . at the time of the acquisition rent way was ranked number three in the rent to own industry with 782 stores in 34 states . 29 the rent way store acquisition program brought the store total to 3 535 stores . given that the acquisition resulted in over penetration in some markets rent a center carried out the closing or merging of 282 stores between 2007 and 2009 . 30 with 176 mexico stores as of september 2014 rent a center is continuing its expansion in mexico . 10 business operations edit rent a center headquarters building plano texas . rac provides new and used brand named furniture appliances computers and electronics from brands such as ashley furniture sony toshiba whirlpool corporation dell and hp . 8 as part of their rent to own business model rent a center generally makes its items available with no down payments or long term obligations . customers can return an item at any time for any reason without penalty and also have the option to re rent the same item and pick up the payments where they left off . delivery pick up service and repair are also included in the stated rental price . customers can also upgrade items while they are renting the payments will change accordingly . in march 2007 the corporate office moved to a new location at 5501 headquarters drive plano texas in the legacy business park . construction began on the 175 000 square foot 16 300 m2 building in january 2006 . employees moved into the building on 16 march 2007 . the current headquarters measures three stories and includes structured parking for 400 vehicles a fitness center and lunchroom . 31 in july 2015 rent a centre sells several ontario locations to easyhome financial for price for 3.4 million dollars with this agreement rent a centre & easyhome signed a 3 year agreement for non compete contract that each company can not open any stores in each other countries . 32 philanthropy edit beginning in 2003 the company has made donations to big brothers big sisters of america collected by means of fund raisers held on an annual basis in rent a center stores . between 2005 and 2010 rent a center donated and set up 116 rac rooms at boys and girls clubs of america locations in which each club selects 5 000 worth of new furniture electronics and computers for their room . 33 rent a center also contributed to boys and girls clubs of america with four tech centers in 2014 . 34 rent a center has annually allocated 60 000 worth of scholarships to customers and the children of customers and coworkers . through the random acts of caring initiative which was launched in 2008 rac has donated merchandise and funding to charitable organizations located in communities where rent a center maintains retail locations . 35 98 random acts of caring have taken place since 2008 totaling 531 300 in contributions . since 2007 the company has contributed over 600 000 in grants to junior achievement and in addition rent a center employees volunteer annually to teach financial literacy . rent a center has provided monetary and product contributions totaling nearly 600 000 to date to the north texas food bank . 36 37 38 since 2009 rent a center has donated more than 1.25 million dollars to 11 food banks across the country . this is in addition to the grassroots hunger relief campaign staged across rent a center s 3 000 plus u.s. stores throughout the month of september . dubbed soup to nuts and in support of hunger action month this virtual food drive leverages rent a center s stores as collection points for cash donations . the donated funds are distributed to food banks across the country at the conclusion of the month long campaign . 39 an initiative begun in 2010 is rent a center s operation just like home in which merchandise with a wholesale value of 175 000 is delivered to select installations across four military service branches including the army navy air force and marine corps . contributions have been allocated to family & morale welfare and recreation operations that provide community and family services such as the soldier and family assistance centers that in turn serve wounded ill and injured soldiers and their families . 40 in 2014 rent a center shifted its support of the military through the backing of important military related nonprofit organizations including blue star families air force aid society army emergency relief and the navy marine corps relief society . 41 reception and litigation edit a store in hillsboro oregon a number of consumer protection concerns have been raised about the rent to own industry including accusations of predatory lending . 42 consumer advocates believe that rent to own transactions such as those offered by rent a center should be treated as credit sales and point out that the price of a product can be two or three times the retail price . in an april 2000 federal trade commission study on the industry 75 % of respondents stated that they were satisfied with their rent to own experience whereas 19 % were dissatisfied . 43 in 2000 rent a center was sued for sexual bias in the hiring of women . the 2002 settlement agreement resulted in a 47 million cash payment by rent a center and mandated that rent a center offer 10 % of future vacancies over the following 15 month period to women who were found to be past victims of discrimination . the settlement also led rent a center to seek qualified women to serve on its board of directors develop equal employment training programs and hire a new human resources vice president to implement hiring policies that ensured equal employment opportunity for female job applicants and current employees . 44 45 in 2006 rent a center settled for 7 million in restitution and 750 000 in civil penalties for deceptive business practices in california . the state of california claimed rac in violation of state law engaged in unfair competition and illegally misrepresented the price of certain merchandise . as a result of the settlement rac also deposited more than 7 million into a special consumer protection fund that is used to enforce consumer protection laws . 46 in 2010 seven months after the washington attorney general s office sued rent a center and accused the national lease to own chain of unfair and deceptive collection practices under washington s consumer protection act rent a center agreed to settle .