Daily News
From Home Furnishing Business
Rent-A-Center Same-Store Sales Fall 11.5% in January
March 2,
2017 by Larry Thomas in Financial Reports, Industry 
In its first monthly release of key operating metrics, Rent-A-Center (NASDAQ:RCII) said same-store sales fell 11.5% at its core U.S. stores in January, but rose 2.5% for its Acceptance Now business that provides rent-to-own financing for traditional retailers.
The company also said delinquencies – rental contracts that are more than seven days past due – stood at 9.3% for the month at its core stores, which was 30 basis points lower than December.
At Acceptance Now, delinquencies were 9%, which was 60 basis points above the December figure.
In addition, the average rental rate was 4.7% below January 2016, and employee turnover stood at 76.1%, which was a 4.5 percentage point improvement over January 2016.
"We are encouraged by the early progress on delinquencies and turnover in the Core business in January. As expected, it will take more time to implement improvements that will positively impact same store sales, monthly rate, and Acceptance Now delinquencies as we execute on our strategic objectives to deliver improved results for all of our stakeholders," said Mark E. Speese, Interim CEO.