Aaron Rents, Inc. to Purchase Assets of Sight'n Sound Appliance Centers, Inc.

Aaron Rents, Inc., the nation's leader in the rental, sales and lease ownership, and specialty retailing of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics and home appliances and accessories, today announced that it has reached an agreement in principle to acquire certain assets of Sight'n Sound Appliance Centers, Inc., a specialty retailer of furniture, appliances, and consumer electronics based in Oklahoma City.

Sight'n Sound, with a current annual sales volume of approximately $60 million, operates 26 stores in Oklahoma and Kansas. The stores will be operated under the Sight'n Sound name after the acquisition.

"We are pleased to announce the pending purchase of the Sight'n Sound stores," said R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Aaron Rents, Inc. "Our plan is to operate these stores as a separate operating unit of the Company, and to continue to offer for sale brand name electronics, appliances, and furniture. In addition to selling merchandise for cash, credit card, and credit, we will give customers a new option of leasing merchandise under our sales and lease ownership program. We feel we have the opportunity to increase the current volume of the Sight'n Sound stores by introducing our highly successful sales and lease ownership plan," Mr. Loudermilk added.

The acquisition consists of acquiring substantially all of the assets of Sight'n Sound, primarily inventory, and assuming the real estate obligations of the stores. The purchase is expected to close by the end of August, and will be a cash transaction, subject to adjustments, of an amount anticipated to be less than $12 million. The closing is subject to a number of customary closing conditions and completion of due diligence.

"Although this acquisition will immediately increase our revenues, especially of retail sales, we do not expect the acquisition to be initially accretive to earnings," Mr. Loudermilk continued. "We consider this to be a test as to whether we can acquire a traditional retailer and expand its business through offering to customers the sales and lease ownership financing transaction. If we are successful, then it opens up much larger opportunities for the Company's future expansion. We don't expect this acquisition to affect our current earnings guidance for the year 2002, which is achieving earnings in a range of $1.27 to $1.32 per diluted share."

Aaron Rents, Inc., based in Atlanta, currently has more than 650 Company- operated and franchised stores across the United States and Puerto Rico for the rental and sale of residential and office furniture, accessories, consumer electronics and household appliances. The Company also manufactures furniture, bedding and accessories at 10 facilities in four states.