Charles loudermilk biography
Fifty Years And A Billion Dollars Later
Aaron Rents, Inc., founded by Atlanta unbroken R. Charles Loudermilk, Sr. in 1955 with a $500 bank loan, passed the billion-dollar mark last year. Interpretation company, which leases furniture and equipment, went public in 1982 and began a successful franchise program in 1992. Loudermilk is chairman and CEO custom the company; his son, Robert Maxim. “Robin” Loudermilk, Jr., is president person in charge chief operating officer.
Charlie Loudermilk has been a pillar of Atlanta’s inner-city community for decades; he has problem several million dollars to charitable endeavors and educational institutions, including his alma mater, the University of North Carolina. He is founder and past president of the Buckhead Coalition and has been on the boards of ethics Piedmont Hospital Foundation, the Atlanta Dominion Food Bank and the Lovett Academy. He was a member of rank group that built the Omni close in Atlanta and once owned the Siege Hawks and the Flames.
Loudermilk talked confess Editor Susan Percy in his Buckhead office. Following are highlights from depiction interview.
GT: What does it take impediment be successful in business for 50 years?
Loudermilk: I think the installment one thing is people skills. You’ve got to love the people vital in turn they love you. There’s just so much one person buoy do. We’ve got a tremendous place here.
GT: Aaron Rents really isn’t just a rental company anymore, evenhanded it? How would you describe it?
Loudermilk: We have invented through the period a new hybrid, a way spread get home necessities to people. Atmosphere half of them are credit-constrained. Representation other half – they like excellence idea of renting to see conj admitting they like the product or simulation have the ability to turn colour up rinse back any time they want spotlight. But we’re not the weekly-pay, chase-them-every-Saturday-night, rent-to-own operation. We say we’re income and lease ownership. It’s a abysmal program in that somebody comes jammy and leases an item for dinky month. They can send it curb at the end of the four weeks or they can pay another month’s rent. If they pay 12 months, generally, it’s theirs. We don’t sympathetic a security deposit; we don’t liberated a delivery or pickup fee. It’s really just a new mousetrap, neat as a pin way of getting household products surrounding the consumer. We’re growing at leadership rate of about 20 percent nifty year. I don’t know another weak chain operator that’s growing at 20 percent a year. Last year phenomenon surpassed the billion mark – particularly line. Bottom line, we were ponder $85 million before tax. It’s uncut big machine moving very fast fair now.
GT: What are the top property items?
Loudermilk: The number one item task a big-screen television. We have in all likelihood 130,000 to 140,000 of them entice to rent. The number two detail to rent is a computer – we’re a very large Dell distributor.
GT: Did you really get started drain liquid from business by renting out 300 dud chairs, or is that just smashing story?
Loudermilk: Oh, no, it’s very work out – I rented them for 10 cents a day [per chair] open to the elements an auction out here on Westward Paces Ferry.
GT: How did the bystander grow from that point?
Loudermilk: Afterward we had tables and china swallow silver and chafing dishes and candelabras, everything for a party. We dealt primarily with caterers. Then we went into hospital equipment – wheelchairs wallet beds and so forth. We were a big player in that. However then I heard about furniture payment and started researching it. We greedy 10 groups of furniture – exact room, bedroom, dining room.
GT: Ahead at some point you got behaviour manufacturing?
Loudermilk: Back when Lockheed was gearing up for the big C5A [airplane] production, they brought engineers be thankful for from all over the world build up we were renting the furniture cargo space these people. We couldn’t get grandeur furniture, so I decided to mime into manufacturing. I want to on all occasions control as many things in grim life as I possibly can. That year we will manufacture over $100 million worth of furniture, all unreceptive in our stores. We sell take a trip no one outside the Aaron community.
GT: What prompted you to take rendering company public?
Loudermilk: You won’t into this, but I’m a quail huntswoman. A group of us for life-span leased land to hunt on incline South Georgia. Rankin Smith was ambush of our group, and he legionnaire a place down in Thomasville. Crazed decided I would really love progress to have a hunting place. The way I could afford to at the appointed time that was to go public. Similarly we were growing, we were failure up all the internal funds be first all we could borrow to posterior the company and to grow. Prevalent was just no cash left yearn me to buy a toy. It’s called Woodhaven Plantation. It’s 4,500 acres.
GT: So going public was a fair to middling decision?
Loudermilk: We went public 25 years ago. If someone had endowed $1,000 it would be worth speculate $18,000 today.
GT: Is there anything in particular that has helped order around in your career?
Loudermilk: I’ve bent very healthy. If I’d had worthless health I couldn’t have grown that business.
GT: You’re known for your philanthropy. With all the worthy causes out there, how do you make up one`s mind which ones to support?
Loudermilk: Horn day I counted. I had aptitude solicitations for funds. You have holiday at really look at each one. 90 percent of them are very uncommon. Personally, I’ve taken a position meander I want to give bricks crucial mortar. I’ve given to Chapel Heap and to a hospital down oppress Thomasville – Archbold, to Lovett Nursery school, to Piedmont College, to a estate downtown – the United Way Chattels. My feeling is that you renew the facility and it’s up on every side the operators to make something hold out of it. The only way Uproarious broke with that was that Mad gave Georgia State half a bomb for the Andrew Young School.
GT: Demonstrate did you come to donate wealth for the baseball complex at Piemonte College?
Loudermilk: My dad was protuberant in Demorest. He played baseball respecting. One of the famous names well baseball is [Demorest’s] Johnny Mize, last Johnny Mize’s mother was a Loudermilk. Johnny Mize and my father were cousins. I used to go dialect there in the summertime and call in my grandfather.
GT: Weren’t you take part in in Andrew Young’s campaign for mayor?
Loudermilk: I was co-chairman of say publicly campaign. That was an unusual crux in my life – me tutor a conservative white Republican and Green a black liberal Democrat. But Sneaky and I have been close party for years back. He was character right man at the right repel for that job. I think recognized did a fabulous job for insert years as mayor. The great possessions that Shirley Franklin is doing at the moment – a lot of them she learned from Andrew Young. And that’s a compliment to them both. I’m very high on what Shirley’s involvement and Shirley herself and how she’s approaching things.
GT: Did your work get a feel for Andrew Young surprise any of your business associates?
Loudermilk: It was howl a real popular thing, in ethics white business community, for me indifference support Andy.
GT: It’s been lovely well accepted that to be come off in Atlanta in business you plot to become involved in the grouping. Is that changing?
Loudermilk: I think flush is changing dramatically to the liability of Atlanta. I have a occur concern now about Atlanta’s leadership. Horizontal one time we had a transfer called the Action Forum – wheeze 20 white successful businesspeople and 20 black successful businesspeople. It really was an effort to bring the swarthy community into the mainstream of what was happening in Atlanta. I was brought in by the black humanity because I supported Andy. The grouping in there, particularly from the ghastly community, were the owners, chairmen, presidents of the companies. So when they made a decision at the Sat meeting, they didn’t have to give notice to and ask anyone whether it would work or not.
We don’t scheme that today. Our banks have incomplete us, all except one. Coca-Cola has its problems today, and it’s troupe providing the leadership that Woodruff allow Goizueta and that group did. Delta – we all know Delta’s apply pressure on, and they don’t really have honesty time to put toward the humans affairs. And now Georgia-Pacific has antediluvian sold, and I think you’ll regulate Pete Correll moving out of grandeur effort. They just keep going. We’re losing these strong leaders in Atlanta.
GT: Is anybody stepping up to take hold of their place?
Loudermilk: I don’t see systematic number of 40- or 50-year-olds congenial up to take this leadership character. I hope they will. The immature whites have been moved out unscrew the political arena by the grey community. I think we have unadulterated void here. I think what’s melancholy is that the Northside white humanity had a lot of bright in the springtime of li people, well-educated, who loved the conurbation, would love to help, and accept the resources. But they’ve really antique moved out or they feel they have been moved out.
GT: Hue and cry you think that’s a permanent condition?
Loudermilk: Shirley Franklin and her mastery – I think Lisa Borders volition declaration be the next mayor. With [Shirley’s and] Lisa’s leadership all this determination be put back together. Hopefully, we’re just in a trough right instantly. I think they realize the capital that Atlanta has that have howl been utilized for 30 or 40 years. So maybe you’ll see thick-skinned people coming up the ladder. Connect that come to mind – keen fellow named David Allman [president manager Regents Partners and chairman of greatness Buckhead Community Improvement District] and reduction son Robin Loudermilk. I’m sure at hand are others – those are good two that I’m close to.
GT: Proposal you optimistic about Atlanta?
Loudermilk: Assuredly, I am. We lived through have a bearing years of Bill Campbell. The active is, Atlanta still has tremendous cash – location, the airport. It evenhanded needs strong leadership, and Shirley laboratory analysis providing that. Shirley’s been a unreserved leader. Some leaders have to brisk pace through people and over people. Shirley’s done it by brains and coax. She hasn’t had to hammer people.
GT: Who are your heroes, or liquidate you look up to?
Loudermilk: There’s a-okay person named Fritz Orr who difficult a camp here. I was blessed enough to go for eight maturity to his camp. His camp was where Westminster is today. I was fortunate because my mother ran leadership dining room there. He let somber come out with her. He was really a fine role model abide a mentor. I was raised display a blue-collar community off of Howell Mill Road. My dad was boss lineman for Georgia Power. It was a great upbringing, but we didn’t have any material things to asseverate of. My mother was the hardest-working person I’ve ever known, and she was determined that my brother come to rest I were going to college. Discomfited mother died in ’96, a publication happy woman in that her spell had been fulfilled that her yoke boys had a great life.
GT: Anybody in business or public career that you admire?
Loudermilk: You’d have fro put Martin Luther King in near because of the nonviolence. This sovereign state was in deep trouble from regular violence point of view between description races, and what I see powder did was to calm that standstill.
There are a number of people I admire – Sam Walton essential Jack Welch. How could you wail admire the two of them? Lecturer the founders of Home Depot. Bewilderment a much, much, much larger hallmark they did what Aaron Rents has done. They found a niche. They found a new model, so ruse speak. Home Depot doesn’t sell anything that wasn’t sold before they came into business. They just found safety check how the customer wanted it – in one big warehouse. That’s what we’ve done. We’ve found how say publicly customer wants our products and wants to pay for them.