Aaron's
Formerly known as Company Operated
Bottom line
- Total investment $307K – $838K including a $35K franchise fee, 6.0% ongoing royalty.
- No Item 19 financial performance data disclosed — the franchisor chose not to publish revenue figures.
- Rated MODERATE with a risk score of 64/100. SBA loan default rate of 0.0% across 14 loans (below the industry average).
- 20 litigation matters disclosed in Item 3 — higher than typical. Review the summary for patterns (franchisor-initiated vs. franchisee-initiated).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
Yale framework · single-unit ROIC
Returns Analysis
Pulls Item 7 (investment) and Item 19 (revenue) from this brand's FDD into the Yale unlevered-ROIC formula. Override any input to stress-test it against your own assumptions.
The model · Yale framework
What would one Aaron's unit return on the cash you put in?
Unlevered ROIC · per unit
6%
Below typical band (30–60%)
Overview
About
Aaron's franchisees operate rent-to-own retail locations offering furniture, appliances, electronics, and jewelry with flexible payment terms. Daily operations include customer acquisition and retention, lease agreement management, merchandise condition assessment, payment collection, and compliance with state rent-to-own regulations. Franchisees manage inventory, staff, point-of-sale systems, and customer service while remitting 6% of gross revenues to corporate headquarters.
Item 7 · what it costs
The Vitals
Item 19
Financial Performance
This franchisor did not disclose financial performance representations in Item 19, or our extractor could not parse them.
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 16 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator — not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee phone area codes (Item 20). Approximate — ported numbers may show the original state, not the franchisee's current location.
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Aaron's presents HIGH RISK due to stagnant unit growth, extensive litigation including FTC consent orders and data breaches, undisclosed financial performance preventing ROI validation, and regulatory concerns that may destabilize corporate support.
Score breakdown · what drove the 64 / 100 rating
- 01MEDStagnant unit growth (1.8% YoY) indicates mature/declining system with limited expansion support
- 02MEDNo disclosed average revenue or net income prevents ROI validation and suggests Item 19 absence in FDD
- 03HIGHExtensive litigation history including FTC consent orders, data security breaches, customer privacy violations, and ongoing securities class action creates legal/reputational risk
- 04MEDHigh initial investment ($307k-$838k) combined with 6% royalty and undisclosed profitability creates payback period uncertainty
- 05MINORMultiple FTC investigations and consent orders signal regulatory scrutiny over business practices (reciprocal purchase agreements, data security)
- 06MINORGoing-private transaction class action indicates shareholder disputes and potential corporate instability affecting franchisee support
- 07MINORCustomer privacy violations ('PC Rental Agent' software) and data security issues create operational liability risk for franchisees
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
Item 11
Training & Operations
Item 20
Franchisee Contacts
Phone numbers extracted directly from this brand's FDD Item 20. After purchase, you'll also receive a list of validation questions tailored to this brand.
Franchisee contacts
26 numbers
One-time purchase · CSV download · Validation questions included
FDD download
Aaron's · FDD (2025) PDF