Aaron Rents, Inc. Names William R. Mitchell Vice President of Franchise Operations

Aug 4, 2000

ATLANTA, Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Aaron Rents, Inc. (NYSE: RNT), the nation's leader in the rental, rental purchase and specialty retailing of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics and home appliances, today announced that William R. Mitchell, formerly a senior level executive with a major franchiser, has been named Vice President, Franchising of the fast-growing Aaron's Rental Purchase division.

Mitchell previously was regional vice president of Domino's Pizza, Inc., a position he held for five years after having served as senior franchise operations director for six years. His career with Domino's spanned more than 15 years, following eight years with Pizza Hut. He received a B.S. degree from the University of Edinboro (Pennsylvania) in 1975 and completed the Harvard University program for senior executives in 1991.

"Bill Mitchell brings to Aaron's invaluable experience and skills in building a franchise operation," said R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron Rents. "A key factor in our continuing record growth for more than eight years and for our future strategic plan is our franchise program. We expect Bill will add significant strength to our management team and the momentum of the program."

Aaron's Rental Purchase franchisees are opening new stores at the rate of approximately one every seven days, with a total of 181 franchised stores open at July 31.

Aaron Rents, Inc., based in Atlanta, currently has more than 510 Company- operated and franchised stores in 39 states for the rental and sale of residential and office furniture, accessories, consumer electronics and household appliances. The Company manufactures furniture, bedding and accessories at ten facilities in four states.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1993: Statements in this news release regarding Aaron Rents, Inc.'s business which are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" that involve risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 1999, which discussion is incorporated herein by this reference. SOURCE Aaron Rents, Inc.

CONTACT: Gilbert L. Danielson, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Aaron Rents, Inc., 404-231-0011/