UNITED
STATES
SECURITIES
AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington,
D.C. 20549
_____________________________
FORM
8-K
CURRENT
REPORT
PURSUANT
TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date
of Report:
(Date of
earliest event reported)
May
18, 2005
____________________________
RENT-A-CENTER,
INC.
(Exact
name of registrant as specified in charter)
|
Delaware
(State
or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)
|
0-25370
(Commission
File Number)
|
45-0491516
(IRS
Employer Identification No.)
|
|
5700
Tennyson Parkway
Suite
100
Plano,
Texas 75024
(Address
of principal executive offices and zip code) |
(972)
801-1100
(Registrant's
telephone
number,
including area code)
N/A
(Former
name or former address, if changed since last report)
Check the
appropriate box below if the Form 8-K filing is intended to simultaneously
satisfy the filing obligation of the Registrant under any of the following
provisions (see General Instruction A.2. below):
[]
Written
communications pursuant to Rule 425 under the Securities Act (17 CFR
230.425).
[]
Soliciting
material pursuant to Rule 14a-12 under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14a-12).
[]
Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 14d-2(b) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.14d-2(b)).
[]
Pre-commencement
communications pursuant to Rule 13e-4(c) under the Exchange Act (17 CFR
240.13e-4(c)).
|
Item
5.02 |
Departure
of Directors or Principal Officers; Election of Directors; Appointment of
Principal Officers. |
Andrew S.
Jhawar, a Class III director, resigned from the Board of Directors of
Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the “Board”) on May 18, 2005. Mr. Jhawar’s resignation was
not the result of any disagreement with the registrant on any matter relating to
the registrant’s operations, policies or practices.
To fill
the vacancy created by Mr. Jhawar’s resignation, on May 18, 2005, the Board
appointed Michael J. Gade to serve as a Class III director until the 2006 annual
meeting of stockholders. Mr. Gade has not been, and is not expected to be, named
to any committee of the Board at this time. The Board has determined that Mr.
Gade is “independent” as defined by the listing standards of The Nasdaq Stock
Market, Inc. National Market System.
|
Item
9.01 |
Financial
Statements and Exhibits | |
|
(c) |
Exhibit
99.1
Press
Release, dated May 23, 2005. |
2
______________________________________________________________________________
SIGNATURES
Pursuant
to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Registrant has
duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned hereunto
duly authorized.
| RENT-A-CENTER, INC. | ||
| |
|
|
| Date: May 24, 2005 | By: | /s/ Robert D. Davis |
|
Robert
D. Davis | ||
|
Senior
Vice President - Finance, Chief Financial Officer and
Treasurer | ||
3
______________________________________________________________________________
EXHIBIT
INDEX
|
Exhibit
No.
99.1 |
Description
Press
release, dated May 23, 2005 |
4
For
Immediate Release:
MICHAEL
J. GADE JOINS
RENT-A-CENTER,
INC.
BOARD
OF DIRECTORS
_________________________
Plano,
Texas, May 23, 2005 —
Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ/NNM:RCII), the nation’s largest
rent-to-own operator, announced today that Michael J. Gade has been named to its
Board of Directors. Since 2004, Mr. Gade has been an Executive in Residence at
the University of North Texas as a professor of marketing and retailing. A
founding partner of the consulting firm Challance Group, LLP, Mr. Gade has
thirty years of marketing and management experience, most recently serving as a
senior executive for the southwest region of Home Depot, Inc. from 2003-2004.
From 2000 to 2003, Mr. Gade served as Senior Vice President, Merchandising,
Marketing and Business Development for 7-Eleven, Inc. Prior to that time, Mr.
Gade spent five years with Associates First Capital Corporation as Executive
Vice President, Strategic Marketing and Development. Mr. Gade earned a Masters
Degree in Business Administration and a Bachelor of Science from Ohio State
University.
"Mike
Gade is an outstanding addition to our Board of Directors," stated Mark E.
Speese, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. "His
experience in retail marketing adds additional depth to our board, and we expect
his executive management skills to be a valuable resource for the Company,"
Speese said.
"I am
very pleased to be joining the Board of Directors of Rent-A-Center," said Mr.
Gade. "The Rent-A-Center management team has established the leading name in its
industry. I am pleased to become part of this dynamic organization and lend my
support to the continuation of exciting growth under the leadership of Mark
Speese," he concluded.
Mr. Gade
was appointed by the Board of Directors to replace Andrew S. Jhawar, Partner of
Apollo Management, L.P., who resigned from the Board of Directors on May 18,
2005. Mr. Gade will serve the remainder of Mr. Jhawar’s term, which expires at
the Company’s 2006 annual meeting of stockholders.
“We
appreciate Andy’s dedicated service as a member of our Board of Directors,
serving since 2001 as the director designated by Apollo under our stockholders
agreement,” commented Mr. Speese. “Andy’s expertise, together with that of Peter
Copses and Larry Berg, the remaining Apollo designated directors, has been very
valuable to the Company and instrumental in the Company’s success since Apollo’s
original investment in the Company in 1998.”
Rent-A-Center,
Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, currently operates 2,864 company-owned
stores nationwide and in Canada and Puerto Rico. The stores generally offer
high-quality, durable goods such as home electronics, appliances, computers and
furniture and accessories to consumers under flexible rental purchase agreements
that generally allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the
conclusion of an agreed-upon rental period. ColorTyme, Inc., a wholly owned
subsidiary of the Company, is a national franchiser of 308 rent-to-own stores,
296 of which operate under the trade name of "ColorTyme," and the remaining 12
of which operate under the "Rent-A-Center" name.
Contacts
for Rent-A-Center, Inc.:
|
David
E. Carpenter
Vice
President of Investor Relations
(972)
801-1214
dcarpenter@racenter.com |