GRANADA NAME DISAPPEARS
By Adnews Staff
RTO Enterprises of Edmonton dropped its Granada banner and closed four of Granada's 21 stores. The outlets are now operating under the RTO Centres, Rent-To-Own, First Choice, North American TV and Appliance Rentals and Rentown banners. Granada stores sold only home electronics products and had 36 or 48-month rental agreements. At the end of the agreement, the customer would pay a fee and they would own the product. RTO would do a credit check on the customer. The Rent-To-Own stores are for consumers who do not have a credit history or their credit line is at its capacity. RTO doesn't do a credit check, but they do check references and whether or not the customer has a job. RTO decided to drop the Granada stores because consumers were using them as Rent-To-Own stores so the outlets were turning into quasi-Rent-To-Own stores, chief financial officer Bill Johnson told Adnews last week. Rent-To-Own outlets rent home electronics equipment, as well as furniture and appliances. Advertising for RTO is done in-house.