Pete kicks off Season 3 solo and uses the Trib Group's Store Tour Challenge — launched by newly elected president Mike Tissett — as the jumping-off point for an episode about why every rent-to-own operator should be actively studying what their competition is doing.
The Store Tour Challenge had operators across the country filming walkthroughs of their own stores and posting them on social media. Pete watched them all and came away with five takeaways. First, store placement — the best locations pull traffic from anchors customers already visit regularly: grocery stores, auto parts stores, government buildings, post offices. Second, first impression pieces — what greets a customer the moment they walk in matters enormously. Pete saw stores leading with full living room setups, others with bedding front and center (bedding being one of the top sellers in the industry), and some with high-end washers and dryers right at the entrance. Third, signage and displays — modern letter-on-wall signage without frames, platform risers for recliner displays, Ashley dresser risers that let you stack furniture vertically behind a headboard, and bedroom sets with actual curtain and window displays all caught his eye. He ordered the Ashley risers for his own stores after seeing them. Fourth, company-specific ideas — one store had a dedicated "gold customer" area where loyal or paid-out customers got first pick of select inventory. Another had a proper customer refreshment area, not a forgotten coffee pot but an actual dedicated space for customers to sit and relax whether they were buying anything or not. Fifth, products — watching what competitors are carrying reveals what's actually selling in your market faster than any vendor pitch.
The episode also covers the VersaRent User Conference, their first in seven years, which Pete attended. The platform has expanded significantly — custom branded apps for individual companies, field payment collection, digital rental order intake through tablet or laptop. Pete sees it as a sign of where the whole industry is heading and encourages operators of any size to look at what tools are available and how competitors are using them.
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