Decades of living on credit have accustomed Americans to thinking they should take home a computer or television before they have the cash to buy it. But credit card companies are tightening purse strings, and HSBC has folded its consumer lending operation. Where is an overextended consumer going to go? To an appliance and furniture rental firm.rnAARON RENTS (24, RNT) is one of the biggest of the breed, with 1,563 stores spread across 48 states. Not counting "service contract" fees, Aaron charges $99 a month over 24 months for a 42-inch Phillips LCD TV that Aaron buys wholesale for $868 (and that retails for $1,500). Sounds usurious, but note that Aaron structures its contracts not as installment sales but as open-ended rentals. In the eyes of the law, the consumer who takes home an appliance is not borrowing money. He's renting, the way you might rent a tent for a wedding. The item can be returned at any time.rnAaron, which sponsors a Nascar team, plans to open as many as 140 new stores in 2009. "Its same-store sales were up 6.2% in the most recent, terrible quarter," says Ryan Crane, portfolio manager at Stephens Small Cap Growth Fund. Crane says the shares of this family-controlled company are cheap at 13 times likely 2009 earnings.
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