Apple CEO Steve Jobs today sent the following email to all Apple employees:

Team,

At my request, the board of directors has granted me a medical leave of absence so I can focus on my health. I will continue as CEO and be involved in major strategic decisions for the company.

I have asked Tim Cook to be responsible for all of Apple’s day to day operations. I have great confidence that Tim and the rest of the executive management team will do a terrific job executing the exciting plans we have in place for 2011.

I love Apple so much and hope to be back as soon as I can. In the meantime, my family and I would deeply appreciate respect for our privacy.

Steve

Right Now Rental

Fremont’s newest rent-to-own business is determined to break from the industry norm. And, that’s not just because the new business located at 1451 N. Bell St. – right now rental purchase – is locally owned.
“Being in this market, I know the customers,” said CEO and partner in the business, Dan Espinoza. “Access to credit is not what it used to be. I can give them the same name brand stuff the big boxes offer without the interest.”
Espinoza has more than 10 years of experience in the rent-to-own industry, starting at the bottom and working his way up. The store opened at the beginning of November and had it’s grand opening earlier this month.
“I started at Rentway as a delivery tech,” he said. “I was the grunt.”
From there, he started in collections and then became a sales manager. Within six months, he was a store manager – at 19 years old. He was a store manager in Fremont for two years before moving to a store in Columbus for a year.
He was the district manager in Wyoming and Montana for 10 months, traveling from Fremont, before becoming the Nebraska district manager in 2007 through last September.
“I left the company solely off of moral and ethical beliefs,” Espinoza said.
With right now rental purchase, he is able to offer what the chains can’t. While the industry average is a 97-week contract, he can work with customers to tailor a contract that works best for them, and his average contract is 52 weeks to 18 months.
“We offer up to six months same as cash and you always have an early buyout price,” Espinoza said. “For the first six months, 100 percent of the rental payments go to owning.”
An early pay-off is just 50 percent of the amount left on the contract.
He will work out any contract that fits the customer and will even supply items like iPads that normally isn’t a part of the inventory if the customer wants it.
Espinoza is partnered with Chad Parr, who remodeled the building. He employs three people and is open 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays.
Customers just need to bring a photo ID and some cash. The company verifies employment, residency and personal references. It also offers free delivery, free setup and a free loaner program if there are problems.
“T.V.’s and appliances have been the biggest sellers so far,” Espinoza said. “If we don’t have what you want, it takes about 36 hours for electronics or 10 days for furniture.”