Pete interviews Keith Brock, who handles rent-to-own operations for North America at Dialectic — an international distributor that earned the Trib Group's Rookie Vendor of the Year award in its first year, despite being too busy at the show to even pick up the award.
Keith's entry into Dialectic came through Lewis Garcia, former APRO president and longtime rent-to-own veteran, who was brought in as a consultant to help Dialectic form its rent-to-own department. Lewis called Keith about 90 days in, and the two combined their operational experience to build it out. Both have roughly 20 years in the RTO industry, which Keith says makes the vendor relationship easier because they already understand how the business works — what moves, what doesn't, and how operators think.
Dialectic as a company spans casino equipment, land development, real estate, building supplies, and future tech. The RTO arm is still carving out its niche, and that niche is built around speed and non-traditional product. While major vendors hold the TV and appliance space with slim margins, Dialectic focuses on deals with limited windows — sometimes 24-hour availability on large quantities — and categories that aren't yet saturated. Current examples include international gaming systems (PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo) sourced at a discount through currency valuation and trade regulations, the Coleman XLT portable griddle, and smart glasses. They're also in conversations about potentially becoming a direct supplier for Roku's upcoming branded TVs.
For ordering, Dialectic uses the AmpTab platform — effectively an Amazon-style catalog where individual stores can build carts and route orders to a purchasing coordinator. Keith sees it as underutilized but potentially a significant time-saver for multi-store operators.
The most practical advice in the episode comes from a call Keith had the day of recording. A dealer was sitting on unsold PS5 VR units and couldn't figure out why. Keith's answer: pull the list of customers who paid off a PS5 in the last two or three years and call them. They already own the console, they can't go buy VR at retail, and the rental path is the obvious one. It's a simple application of operational knowledge that a non-RTO vendor wouldn't have offered.
His parting advice to operators is to resist closing off product categories entirely just because they didn't sell a few years ago. If the store across town is moving it, the problem might be placement and advertising, not the product itself.
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