The Aaron's Company

Locations

, the Aaron's Company has 1,340 stores: 1,092 company-operated stores (in 43 states and Canada) and 248 independently owned and operated franchised stores in 35 states and Canada.

History

Aaron Rents, Inc. was founded by R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. in 1955.

In September 2008, Aaron's announced the sale of its Corporate Furnishings division to CORT Business Services, part of Berkshire Hathaway. Aaron's Corporate Furnishings division, which operated 47 stores, recorded revenues of approximately $99 million in 2007.

As of December 31, 2016, Aaron's had 1,864 stores located in 28 states and the District of Columbia and Canada. In addition, they had 699 independently owned franchised stores in 46 states and Canada.

On July 29, 2020, Aaron's Holdings Company, Inc. announced plans to split into two companies: PROG Holdings, Inc. and The Aaron's Company, Inc. PROG Holdings, with the ticker symbol "PRG" (), remained in the S&P Midcap 400 stock index but its Global Industry Classification Standard was changed to "Consumer Finance". The Aaron's Company continued to trade under the ticker symbol "AAN" () but was moved into the S&P Smallcap 600.

In April of 2022, Aaron's purchased Brandsmart USA, a regional appliance and consumer electronics retailer, for $230 Million.

On October 3, 2024, IQVentures completed the acquisition of the firm for approximately $504 million.

Controversy

In February 2013, customers sued Aaron's for allegedly using spyware on rented computers to send over 185,000 emails to the rental company, including customers' Social Security numbers, passwords and captured keystrokes, as well as explicit images. The Aaron's Company officials had previously said that the company had not installed the spyware, and individual franchisees were responsible. In October 2013, Aaron's agreed to a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission that limited how it used monitoring technology and ordered it to delete customer information that had been improperly collected.

References

Sources

References

1. "US SEC: Form 10-K Aaron's, Inc.". [[United States Securities and Exchange Commission]].
2. "AAN - Aaron's Company Inc Profile".
3. (2014-04-15). "CORRECTED-Aaron's acquires Progressive Finance Holdings for $700 mln". Reuters.
4. (April 14, 2009). "Aaron Rents, Inc. Changes Name to Aaron's, Inc.". CCBN/Thomson Reuters.
5. (2008-09-15). "Aaron Rents, Inc. Sells Aaron's Corporate Furnishings Division to CORT Business Services". Reuters.
6. "Aaron's Holdings To Spin-Off{{sic".
7. "Concentrix Set to Join S&P MidCap 400; AMC Networks & The Aaron's Company to Join S&P SmallCap 600".
8. (April 2022). "Cases & Deals: Aaron's Company acquires BrandsMart U.S.A. for $230 million". Jones Day.
9. "IQVentures Completes Acquisition of The Aaron's Company". Kilgore News Herald.
10. (February 28, 2013). "185,000 spyware emails were sent to Aaron's computers". NBC News.
11. Leon Stafford. (October 23, 2013). "Rental business Aaron's admits role in spying on customers".