Rent-A-Center on hunt for a new CEO

The founder of Rent-A-Center has returned to lead the company while it looks for a new CEO.



The nation's largest rent-to-own operator said that Robert D. Davis has resigned as CEO and director, effective immediately. A 23-year company veteran, Davis was named CEO in February 2014 after holding a variety of management positions.



Board chairman Mark E. Speese, the company’s founder and former chief executive officer, will serve as interim CEO until a permanent successor has been named. Speese has served as Rent-A-Center’s chairman of the board since October 2001 and as a board director since 1990. He served as the CEO from October 2001 until January 2014.



Rent-A-Center struggled in 2016 amid falling sales, which Davis largely blamed on the implementation of a new point-of-sale system.



Rent-A- Center owns and operates approximately 2,600 namesake stores in the United States, Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico, and approximately 1,870 Acceptance Now locations in the United States and Puerto Rico.