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ColorTyme’s new CEOand President Bob Bloomprepares the companyfullfor a season of growth.APROfile by Kristen Card,with photographs byBloomMark Mahanam naturally a very detail-oriented person; I’mmore comfortable in the tactical, checklist-typementality. But I’m learning to be more strategicand certainly need to continue to grow andimprove strategically in my current role in orderto focus on the big picture.” r It’s not your typicalbusiness bigwig bravado, stuffed with examplesof superhuman professional strengths andcertainly not what you expect to hear from theman tapped to lead America’s longest-runningfranchised rent-to-own company. But BobBloom, ColorTyme’s (www.colortyme.com) newpresident and chief executive officer, isn’t yourtypical business leader.38 PROGRESSIVE RENTALSMARCH-APRIL 2005 39

Bloom has built a remarkable reputation for himself by building andrebuilding multi-unit operations, including being part of the ThornAmerica team that grew from 500 to 1,500 stores, and helping takeEZCORP’s net income from an $8-million loss to an $5.4-million profitin just four years. Not quite a year ago, ColorTyme engaged this titanof turnaround to take the company reins during a “critical time ofgrowth.” r However high profile his string of successes may be,Bloom, who is consistently candid and refreshingly self-aware, insistshis career path isn’t the product of some master plan. It has simply beena series of opportunities that have presented themselves, he says, and hehas been prescient enough to seize and make the most of them.“My personal dream has alwaysbeen to be fulfilled at what I’m doing,”Bloom says. “I’ve got a clear vision forColorTyme and am here to execute thatplan, but I’m not a person who looksout there and says, ‘Here’s where I wantto be in five years.’ I’m not visionary. IfI’m happy with what I’m doing, then Idon’t look for something else.“I’d never heard of Rent-A-Centeruntil the day of my first interview Inever envisioned myself in the pawnbusiness and, while I was doing that, Inever saw myself returning to rent-toown—thoughI’m unquestioninglypassionate about this business. Butfrankly, I never thought of myself aspresident of a company until the day Igot the job. Opportunities happen. Ijust try to recognize them.”Learning the ropesOpportunities do happen,but as writer and economistStephen Leacock said, “I am agreat believer in luck and theharder I work, the more I haveof it.” Hard work has played anessential role in Bob Bloom’slife from early on.Born in Cambridge, NY, justthree miles from the Vermontborder, Bloom had a relativelyrural upbringing, working ondairy farms from the age of 12and graduating high schoolwith a class of only 70. His father,a decorated war hero, wasseverely injured as a prisoner ofwar during World War II andhospitalized for almost a year.Once he was able to return home, however,he made sure he was able to supporthis family. His uncompromisingwork ethic continues to inspire Bobeven now.“My father was a very hard worker,”says Bloom. “He was blue-collar, a linemanfor the electric company. He tookextra jobs in order to support his family.He was the epitome of integrity. Athis funeral a couple of years ago, everybodykept coming up to me and saying,‘He was such a nice guy.’ Now that’s nota bad epitaph.”Bloom worked full-time while attendingHartwick College, a small privateschool in upstate New York. Duringsummers, he bartended nights whilecontinuing to work full-time days.Bloom graduated with a history degreeand while he enjoyed the restaurant and“Our franchisees areour customers. All goodideas in a franchiseorganization come fromfranchisees. And thefranchisors that listen toand work with theirfranchisees, they’re theones who develop thenew programs that keepa company alive.”hospitality business, he realizedhe had to get out of bartending“for all kinds of reasons,”he says. He accepted amanager trainee position withPonderosa Steakhouse Inc.“Ponderosa was a verysmall company at the time,”Bloom says. “I think they hadfive stores in New York Stateand about 75 stores nationwide.I helped the companygrow quite a bit one way oranother by opening about 50stores within seven years.”Bloom managed a singlestore, then four stores andthen 15 and was then requestedto go to corporate headquartersto supervise researchand development.“It was a fascinating learningexperience,” he says. “Ilearned research, marketing, how totake an idea from a concept to a nationalrollout, how to analyze differenttrends. I was growing tremendouslypersonally and developing a lot of terrificpeople for the organization.”Promoted again to assistant vicepresident for Pennsylvania, Bloomoversaw 36 restaurants. Working with astrong team, he used his expertise todevelop new products for the companyand, says Bloom, “life was really good.”Then, opportunity knocked.“[The company] wanted me to goback to New England,” says Bloom,“where they’d gone from about a $5-million operating profit to a $1-millionloss within a year. I brought a lot ofpeople along with me and we completelyturned the marketplace aroundin two years. We were the best-performingregion in the company.”A change in venue:from foodservice to RTOAll that changed when Ponderosawas bought by a man who sought tosell off all its assets and pocket the profits,leaving employees jobless. Bloomchose to leave. Within 90 days, he hadfour job offers—three in the restaurantbusiness at the VP level and one fromRent-A-Center as an area manager runningsix stores.“I took the Rent-A-Center job,”Bloom says. “At the time, you did whatwas called a waiver day, which is whereyou actually spent a day at the store andwent out on deliveries, did collectioncalls and worked in the store. I did thatfor eight hours and had so much fun, Iwent back the next weekend andworked for free.”Hired in June 1990 to manage sixstores, Bloom was managing 12 storesby October, 16 by November and byJanuary had been promoted to regionaldirector for the Northeast overseeing47 stores and six area managers. Ninemonths later, he was promoted to vicepresident of operation administrationwhere he was responsible for companypolicies and procedures, new productsand programs and franchising.Left to right: Mike Houseworth,ColorTyme franchisee in Grand Prairie,Texas; Greg Chambers, store manager;Bryan Smith, assistant store manager;and Bob Bloom“It was a great run,” says Bloom. “Ihad a lot of good people working forme, some of whom are now presidentsof their own companies. Rent-A-Centerwanted new ways to continue to growthe business and put me in charge.“We developed a company calledThorn Leasing Concepts, which gotinto the rent-to-rent business,” he says.“Within about a year, we had $8 millionin revenue and about $3 million inprofit. It was going great, but I was nolonger needed, so I became divisionalvice president of rural stores, responsiblefor developing a growth model andprogram. Over the next 15 months, wegrew to 185 stores, operating completelyindependent from the urban Rent-A-40 PROGRESSIVE RENTALSMARCH-APRIL 2005 41

forward. I’m not political. I don’t knowhow to say things in shades of gray.While I understand I can’t expect thatfrom others, I do look for it.”Bloom claims, rather convincingly,that he simply isn’t a person who canwork 8 to 5. Usually at the office before7 a.m., a 12-hour day is much morelikely, so time for family and favoritepastimes is at a premium.“But when I’m home, I’m home,”says Bloom. “I don’t have a lot of otherinterests.”That helps explain Bloom’s successful28-year marriage to his wife, Kathy,and their two grown daughters, who,Bob says with a laugh, luckily inheritedtheir mother’s smarts and their father’swork ethic. One daughter works withcable network Spike TV in New YorkCity, while the other is in Boston,working with global business consultingfirm Bain & Co.“My girls,” says Bloom. “They’re byfar my finest achievement.”Somehow, Bloom still finds the timeto read voraciously, regularly devouringfive magazines and two books aweek. He’s also an avid hunter of whitetaildeer and turkey and, lately, hastaken up archery hunting, because, hesays, it’s more challenging.Proud to be RTOBloom might have been broughtback into the rent-to-own industry as atroubleshooter, but he says his plans forColorTyme go way beyond getting thecompany past some short-term growthdifficulties. His passion for the businessis genuine and likely just as lasting.“I love this business, I love these customers—I’mserious,” Bloom says. “Ourcustomers—the cash-constrained, credit-constrainedconsumers—are greatpeople and are under-served. There areabout 40 million of them, they’re one ofthe fastest growing consumer segmentsand they’re very loyal. Time and timeagain, you deliver a big-screen, youdeliver a refrigerator and you see howyou’re improving their quality of life.You don’t get that type of opportunitywith many other businesses.“At ColorTyme’s convention a coupleof weeks ago,” he says, “I told ourfranchise store managers they shouldcelebrate paid-in-fulls just like they celebratebirthdays at restaurants. Weought to all come out and play loudmusic and clap our hands. We shouldbe patting that customer on the back,because that customer—through ourhelp and a lot of timely payments—hasreceived ownership of a product he orshe had no chance of getting ownershipof otherwise. I’m very proud of that,and I think this whole industry shouldbe, too.” Kristen Card is an independent businesswriter in Austin, TX.Viewpoint =VegasMaster The Power of Information!Information... a powerful business tool, but asdifficult to manage as a force of nature. Fastand powerful RSSS software manages criticalinformation in real time from all of your stores,capitalizing on the latest developments inInternet and business technology. By utilizingexclusive state-of-the-art networking, RSSSempowers you to economically leverage yourinventory across your entire operation, whileour powerful reporting features allow you todecrease your inventory cost as much as20 percent! RSSS software even helps youlower the cost of expanding your business. Ifyou have been searching for a way to harnessthe power of your information to generatewaves of new business, then RSSS is theultimate solution for you.Win a free registration to APRO’s2005 Convention and Buying Show!Help your friends and employees stay on top of the RTOinformation curve with a subscription to APRO’s onlinenewsletter, Rental Viewpoint. The person who submitsthe most e-mail addresses by May 31 will win a freeregistration to the 2005 APRO Convention and BuyingShow at Mandalay Bay Hotel and Resort in Las Vegas,August 8–11! Visit www.APROVision.org and follow thelink on the bottom of the home page. Or provide yourname, company name, e-mail addresses and telephonenumber in an e-mail to lhill@aprovision.org.RENTAL & SALESSOFTWARE SYSTEMSThe Power of InformationA High Touch CompanyCall us at 1.800.334.5224 or visit www.rsss.com.RENTALAssociate Member since 1986ONLINE >>>44 PROGRESSIVE RENTALS