Release Details

Plano, Texas, February 23 2000. - Today, Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the "Company") (NASDAQ/NNM: RCII) announced that John Madden would serve as the national advertising spokesperson for the Plano-based leader of the rent-to-own industry. The fully integrated campaign launches in early spring featuring television, radio, print, direct response and in-store signage.

"We are very excited about the growth opportunities we will begin to capitalize on this year," said Rent-A-Center Chairman and CEO J. Ernest Talley. "The record financial results in 1999 signal we are in position to begin expanding our presence in the rent-to-own industry. As we build upon our market position through store growth, we want to further establish our brand name and show customers how easy it is to rent the best name brand merchandise available. John Madden has a unique balance of multi-cultural appeal, a strong awareness amongst both men, women and a personality that people of all ages enjoy. He will help us capture new customers and establish a more powerful identity."

"Rent-A-Center allows people to shop for more good things than ever before with no long term obligation," commented John Madden, former NFL Super Bowl Champion coach of the Oakland Raiders and current Fox sports announcer.

"We believe that we are in for a good year 2000 when an endearing presenter like John Madden can tell the right story in a compelling way," added Talley. "This announcement energized the 2,600 members of our management team during our annual meeting in Las Vegas today."

Rent-A-Center, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, currently operates 2,071 rent-to-own stores in 49 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, offering high-quality, durable goods such as consumer electronics, appliances, computers, and furniture and accessories to customers under flexible rental purchase arrangements that allow the customer to obtain ownership of the merchandise at the conclusion of an agreed-upon rental period. ColorTyme, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, is a national franchisor of 365 rent-to-own stores, 337 of which operate under the trade name of "ColorTyme," and the remaining 28 of which operate under the "Rent-A-Center" name.

BrannForbes, the new advertising agency for the Company and creator of the campaign, is part of BrannWorldwide, the global leader in targeted marketing.

This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward looking statements generally can be identified by the use of forward-looking terminology such as "may," "will," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," or "believe," or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in such forward looking statements will prove to be correct, the Company can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The actual future performance of the Company could differ materially from such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, the risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including its annual report Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 1999 and the Company's ability to find locations that meet the Company's criteria for new store locations, and the Company's ability to locate existing stores that the Company could acquire under acceptable terms. There is no assurance that the Company will be able to find such locations or existing stores, or that it would be able to open or acquire such stores. You are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release. Except as requested by law, the Company is not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances after the date of this report or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events.

Contacts for Rent-A-Center, Inc.:

Mark Speese, Chief Executive Officer
Chairman of the Board
(972) 801-1199
mspeese@racenter.com

Mitchell E. Fadel, President
(972) 801-1114
mfadel@racenter.com

Robert D. Davis, Chief Financial Officer
(972) 801-1204
rdavis@racenter.com

David E. Carpenter, Director of Investor Relations
(972) 801-1214
dcarpenter@racenter.com