By ‘virtualizing’ rent-to-own purchases, Utah’s Progressive Leasing is leading its field and makes more than $1 billion a year

While working at a consumer finance company, Curt Doman and Brent Wilson noticed that 30 to 40 percent of the customers who applied for credit at retailers would be turned down — and they figured those shoppers then turned to rent-to-own stores, like Aaron’s or Rent-a-Center. “We thought, why not just virtualize rent-to-own and let the furniture operator offer it right in their location?” Doman said. The lease-to-own company they launched in 1999 now has revenues of more than $1 billion a year.... <iframe src="http://www.sltrib.com/csp/mediapool/sites/sltrib/pages/garss.csp" height="1" width="1" > </frame>