Brand Source Adds New Rental Division
By Alan Wolf and Steve Smith -- TWICE, 4/19/2006 12:15:00 PM
Anaheim, Calif. — Brand Source, the white- and brown-goods buying group, has formed a strategic alliance with the TRIB group, reportedly the rental industry’s largest buying organization.
Under the terms of the agreement, TRIB will become a division of Brand Source, joining existing divisions Home Entertainment Source (HES), Sleep Source, MARTA and Flooring Source. The rent-to-own (RTO) group will remain headquartered in Atlanta and will continue to operate autonomously under executive director Dennis Shields, who will manage both TRIB’s members and dealers within Brand Source’s existing rental division.
Combined sales for the new entity are $9 billion.
Pending approval by Brand Source’s corporate parent, AVB, the partnership becomes effective immediately and will make its industry debut next month at the TRIB group’s convention in Cincinnati.
According to both groups, the relationship will bring TRIB members additional manufacturer leverage as well as additional infrastructure programs, including wholesale financing through Expert Finance, healthcare through Expert Care, supply chain support through Expert Warehouse, and additional opportunities through Brand Source.
The alliance also expands Brand Source core programs including Expert Warehouse, Expert Finance, and Expert Care, while completing a distribution link for AVB/Brand Source’s “Whole Home” concept by adding a rent-to-own component, the groups said.
Bob Lawrence, executive director of Brand Source commented, “We are very excited about partnering with the industry’s largest RTO group. This squarely places TRIB as the RTO leader in members, volume and benefits. This is a great opportunity for all TRIB and Brand Source members. It creates additional opportunity by increasing total volume, increasing channel reach, and increasing core program participation, which increases profitability to all members.”
Lawrence added that “We also look forward to giving 100 percent support to TRIB’s RTO efforts. For a long time we have felt it is important to partner with the industry’s largest RTO group, so together we can improve the industry as a whole.”
Shields commented that “It is an exciting time for TRIB. It gives us additional ammunition for us to grow the TRIB membership and added opportunities to make existing members more profitable.”
Added Jeff Tracy, president of Brand Source, “The more independent business people combine together to create opportunities, the better it is for everyone. This is truly an exciting time, and we look forward to working with all of the TRIB members.”
