A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Friday to mark the opening of Rent A Center at the Village Center Mall in Harlan (Photo Submitted)

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The Village Center Mall in Harlan is the new home of the first Rent A Center in Harlan, bringing furniture, electronics, and other merchandise available on a lease to own basis. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held on Friday to celebrate the opening of the new location, with representatives from Rent A Center, the Harlan County Chamber of Commerce, and more present at the event.

Michael Landry, with the Rent A Center corporation, provided some details shortly after the ribbon cutting ceremony.

According to Landry, there are approximately 1,700 Rent A Center locations throughout the United States.

“This is a locally owned and operated franchise store by the Raintree Group, a Lexington based operation,” Landry said. “This is their 19th store.”

Landry explained the mission of Rent A Center.

“Rent A Center is a furniture, appliance and electronics retailer in the rent to own business,” Landry said. “You can get exceptional deals on home goods without the hassle of credit.”

Landry pointed out there are many well-known brands available, including Ashley, Whirlpool, LG, and Samsung available at affordable weekly rates.

On the day of the ribbon cutting, 100 percent of the merchandise in the store was brand new, however that will likely change as time goes by.

“A typical store will be 50 percent new product and 50 percent previously rented product,” Landry said.

He added previously rented products are occasionally a better deal.

Furniture is a large segment of Rent A Center’s business.

“Furniture is a big category for us,” Landry said. “Everything from living room sets, bedroom sets, mattresses, we have Ashley furniture, it’s one of the biggest brands out there. It’s well-known American furniture. In the appliances category, with have all the Whirlpool brands, Whirlpool and Amana. We also have GE. There are washers and dryers, refrigerators, stove tops, and the like.”

When it comes to electronics, Rent A Center offers a wide variety of televisions – anywhere from 43-inch to 85-inch televisions – as well as computers ranging from basic laptops and tablets to gaming computers.

According to a press release, the Harlan Rent A Center is operated by Raintree, a large Lexington-based Rent A Center franchisee. Raintree operates Rent A Center locations throughout Kentucky and Virginia.

“We’re excited to further expand in Kentucky with the opening of the new store in Harlan,” said Kevin Webb, Raintree’s president. “We are looking forward to offering name-brand home furnishings to customers in this wonderful community under flexible lease-to-own agreements with no long-term debt obligations.”

The release states “Rent-A-Center helps elevate financial opportunity for all by leasing high-quality furniture, appliances, electronics and other durable goods to customers on a lease-to-own basis through its stores, the rentacenter.com website and the Rent-A-Center mobile app. There are currently approximately 2,300 company-owned and franchise Rent-A-Center locations throughout the United States, Puerto Rico and Mexico.”

Rent A Center in Harlan is open Monday through Thursday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Friday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. The store is located in the Village Center Mall at 163 Village Center Road, Harlan, Ky, 40831.