Santa Maria household incomes in the ,50,000 range have prompted a nationwide furniture, electronics and appliance sales and rental company to open an outlet here.

Aaron/s, a division of Aaron Rents Inc., plans to open an 8,000-square-foot company-owned store in Santa Maria within six months, said Doug Keane, regional director of franchising.

&#8220It will be one of the biggest (Aaron/s) opening in California these days,C he added.

He declined to say exactly where the store will be, but he did offer a hint: &#8220We always love being close to a Wal-Mart.C

In keeping with the company/s new franchise strategy, the store will likely be a free-standing building rather than part of a strip mall.

Although the Santa Maria outlet will be company-operated rather than a franchise location, the new store is part of the corporation/s aggressive franchise expansion efforts throughout &#8220small-town America.C

In fact, Keane said, after the Aaron/s opens in Santa Maria, the company plans to open stores in Arroyo Grande and Paso Robles, each about six months apart.

But Keane predicted the Santa Maria outlet &#8220will probably be the top store in California,C and he expects it to eclipse the business volume of the Bakersfield outlet, currently the top store in the state.

&#8220Santa Maria has got to probably have the absolute perfect demographic we look for of any city in the country,C Keane said. &#8220Although no real estate is reasonable in the state of California, the area/s real estate prices are manageable.

&#8220The household income is ,49,000 to ,50,000,C he continued. &#8220When we hit that, we have something going. It/s really good for us.

&#8220When you look around and see a lot of auto parts and check cashing stores, our clients are everywhere,C he added.

Aaron/s bills itself as &#8220the nation/s leader in the leasing and sale of residential and office furniture, consumer electronics, home appliances and accessories.C

The company has more than 1,250 company-operated and franchised stores in 47 states and Canada. Most of them are in or near large cities, but the company is now opening stores in small towns and rural areas.

The success of a company-owned Aaron/s that opened about three years ago in Lompoc was another factor in the corporation/s decision to open the Santa Maria store, Keane said.

&#8220That/s another strong demographic for us 7 military people,C he said, referring to nearby Vandenberg Air Force Base.

What/s not typical for Aaron/s is the fact that not one person responded when the company advertised for franchise applicants for the Santa Maria store.

&#8220That/s pretty darn strange for us,C Keane said. &#8220When you advertise a potential ,173,000 pretax income per year, normally that makes the phones ring off the hook around the country.

&#8220On top of that, we/ve never had a store failure and never had a franchisee lawsuit, ever.C

The lack of interest might be the result of local incomes versus company requirements for franchisees.

The average Santa Maria household income ranges from ,52,443 to ,57,251, and the median ranges from ,42,134 to ,47,086, based on single-person and multiple-person households, respectively.

In addition, fewer than 2,000 city households have annual incomes of ,100,000 or more.

Potential Aaron/s franchisees must have a net worth of at least ,450,000, with ,350,000 available in a line of credit or liquid assets, to qualify for a store.

But despite the lack of franchise interest, corporate management decided to forge ahead with a company-owned store because Keane had pitched the Santa Maria area so hard.

&#8220I live in Texas, but I/ve spent a lot of quality time on the Central Coast,C Keane said. &#8220My second home is the Hitching Post (in Casmalia). I/d boasted about Santa Maria, so the corporation said >We want it./ They said, >We/re going in, no matter what./C

The result will be a showroom of home and office furniture, appliances and consumer electronics from such brand names as Dell, HP, Sony, JVC, Mitsubishi, GE, Maytag, RCA, Philips, Magnavox and Woodhaven.

Aaron/s specializes in leasing to people with little or no credit, but the average default rate is just 2.9 percent per year &#8220with no credit checks, and that/s amazing,C Keane said.

Customers can purchase items outright using credit cards, cash or a 90-days-same-as-cash program or select one- to two-year leases.

The individual stores maintain little inventory, relying on deliveries twice a week from the company/s 15 distribution centers.

&#8220A person can come in with no credit and we can deliver a leather recliner or big-screen TV that day or the following morning,C Keane said.

Mike Hodgson can be reached at 739-2221 or mhodgson@santa

mariatimes.com.

June 23, 2007