| |
Rent-n-Roll spins urban whip appeal
By Kathy Y. Wilson
The low-end theory of chest-rattling bass quakes slowly down the street.
Made you look!
Like oversized pie plates and pinwheels, those rims — sparkling
and sometimes spinning by in the twinkling of a bye — get us
every time. Whether as onlookers, ride-or-die soldiers, haters or
cultural outsiders, we’ve all been mesmerized at least once
by the not-so-new cultural phenomenon of smacked-out rides riding
on extravagant (and expensive) wheels and rims.
The (mostly) black extra value pack of rims, Tims, Air Jordans, gaudy
jewelry, coordinating outfits from Deveroes or Hard Ta Knock and a
postmodern, passenger-side Bonnie to match that Clyde isn’t
a BET video exclusive anymore. Check the streets — this is the
new urban landscape.
Downtown developers don’t beg these people to buy expensive
condos and lofts. They don’t start their days with $5 lattes
or end them by listening to National Public Radio. You can find them
in the club, sipping on Hypnotiq SPELL.
Theirs is a brazen not-so-subculture with its own language and dress
code soundtracked by 50 Cent and Jay-Z. They call their rides “whips”
or “old school.” They want your attention because it’s
probably the most attention they’ll get all day.
Used to be a warm-weather parade of clean whips signaled the real
start of spring (fuck Puxatawney Phil) or the onslaught of Jazz Festival
weekend. Now folks show off their rides for the sake of pride and
ownership.
And pimping rides is big business. Ever since MTV bartered and resold
street culture back to its black and brown originators via Pimp My
Ride, mainstream culture can’t help but jones for a piece of
that pie.
Likewise, when Larry Sutton founded Rent-n-Roll in Tampa, Fla., four
years ago, he knew the best way to make a dent in the ever-growing
uniform of Rap culture was to follow and then spin the model started
by rent-to-own businesses in poor and working-class neighborhoods
nationwide.
“We didn’t reinvent the wheel — just the wheel business,”
says Sutton’s motto painted above the counter of the Covington
Rent-n-Roll at 1613 Madison Ave., one of two of the area’s only
rent-to-own rim and tire outlets.
“They call Sutton the ol’ reverend of rent-to-own,”
Manager Joe Eason says.
Sutton’s sermon is well received by the men’s chorus.
Eason says Sutton has opened 30 to 40 Rent-n-Roll stores nationwide,
selling some as franchises.
Eason says 95 percent of his customers live within five miles of the
store, 60 percent are black and 25 percent are women.
Rent-n-Roll, owned by UHR Rents, uses a simple application, one laden
with easily verifiable information: six personal references, employment,
landlord and vehicle registration. Once approved, a customer can choose
a set of four 20-inch Limited rims and pay $51 weekly for 78 weeks.
The manufacturer’s price for the set is $2,000. Rent-n-Roll
sells the set for $1,600, including installation.
Women waiting while their men buy rims are the equivalent of men holding
purses and packages while their girlfriends and wives endlessly try
on outfits at the mall.
Shivonna sits patiently while O’Dell fills out paperwork, asks
questions about different rims and talks about the car he’s
transforming. The couple lives in Newport.
O’Dell just bought a 1979 Trans Am. Shivonna, his girlfriend,
says he recently dropped a new engine in it. O’Dell is about
to paint it marbleized purple.
When asked why men are so consumed with cars and rims, O’Dell
is too preoccupied by the possibilities of a store full of rims to
answer fully.
“I don’t know. What is it, Boo?” Shivonna asks O’Dell.
“Makes your car look better,” O’Dell says, concentrating
on the application.
“I guess it’s the shine, the look,” says Shivonna,
cradling their young daughter. “It makes your car look a whole
lot better. Rims, for men, it’s all about showing out. It’s
about shittin’ on the other guy. His car is exactly like the
car in Smokey and the Bandit. Older white guys have pulled him over
and asked him about his car. He knows if he drives around our neighborhood
the other guys will be looking.”
It’s rims as the new penis envy.
Eason says the rim rental business relies on targeting specific demographics,
cross-promotions on radio stations like The Wiz (100.9 FM) and 107.1
FM and, of course, the butchness of all things automotive.
“When we first started planning for this store, we took one
of the TV station’s viewing areas and (as a result) it kind
of just set us right here,” Eason says.
The store sits beside a payday loan center, a Dollar General store,
a Papa John’s Pizza and a Blockbuster Video, all pop culture
junk food.
Seems opening a rim rental would be as easy as Spreewell, Diablo and
Verde, but Eason says he and his staff were trained to do it.
“It’s just basically learning the wheel and tire business,”
Eason says. “Most of us that are doing this have been in rent-to-own
for a while, it was just learning a new product.”
Rent-n-Roll has that whip appeal. According to Eason, 30 to 35 percent
of his business is retail and 65 to 70 percent is rental. He’s
aware of the rent-to-own stigma, the one that’s predatory and
takes advantage of a low-income customer’s addiction to instant
gratification despite perhaps dodegy credit.
“They might get that kinda stuff at Rent-A-Center,” Eason
says. “The No. 1 people that come in here are driving cars.
They take good care of their cars and they’re working, obviously.
We tell everybody, ‘This is a luxury item, it’s not a
need.’ ” ©
|
|
|
