Cash America 2004 Annual Report Download - page 5

20 Years of Leadership
First฀and฀foremost–฀
a฀culture฀of฀service
There฀have฀been฀a฀number฀of฀firsts฀
along฀the฀way.฀Cash฀America฀was฀the฀
first฀company฀to฀raise฀capital,฀including฀
public฀equity,฀to฀build฀a฀chain฀of฀pawn฀
lending฀locations.฀Before฀Cash฀America,฀
the฀pawn฀industry฀was฀traditionally฀a฀
closely฀guarded฀business,฀which฀no฀
doubt฀helped฀lead฀to฀years฀of฀negative฀
and฀inaccurate฀publicity.
฀ Cash฀America฀was฀the฀first฀in฀
the฀industry฀to฀develop฀formal฀training฀
systems฀for฀employees฀and฀the฀first฀
in฀the฀industry฀to฀network฀stores฀with฀
a฀customer฀database.฀We฀created฀a฀
centralized฀jewelry฀processing฀center฀
and฀developed฀sophisticated฀practices฀
to฀verify฀gold฀content฀and฀confirm฀
the฀genuine฀quality฀of฀diamonds.฀Our฀
proprietary฀“ProKnow”฀database฀helps฀
us฀set฀consistent฀parameters,฀for฀lending฀
and฀for฀buying฀and฀selling฀merchandise,฀
handling฀over฀5฀million฀transactions฀
a฀year.฀In฀effect,฀even฀our฀newest฀
coworkers฀have฀instant฀knowledge฀and฀
our฀full฀resources฀right฀at฀their฀fingertips.฀
We฀developed฀an฀asset฀protection/loss฀
prevention฀group฀to฀protect฀the฀interests฀
of฀our฀investors฀and฀monitor฀operational฀
compliance฀with฀Company฀policies.฀
We’ve฀formalized฀operating฀practices฀
and฀inventory฀control฀systems฀that฀
remain฀unmatched฀in฀our฀industry.฀
฀ Most฀importantly,฀we’ve฀created฀
a฀culture฀based฀on฀positive฀core฀values.฀
We’re฀a฀family.฀We฀strive฀for฀excellence.฀
We฀bring฀honor฀to฀our฀team.฀We฀have฀
fun.฀We฀act฀with฀a฀servant’s฀heart.฀
To฀protect฀and฀grow฀this฀culture,฀we฀
have฀a฀very฀successful฀management฀
training฀program.฀A฀large฀majority฀of฀our฀
operations-level฀managers฀are฀graduates฀
of฀this฀in-house฀training.฀
฀ Thanks฀to฀the฀pioneering,฀
innovative฀thinking฀and฀hard฀work฀of฀
Cash฀America฀people฀throughout฀the฀
Company,฀the฀pawn฀industry฀hasn’t฀just฀
grown,฀it’s฀grown฀up.
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Purchased Field Support
Center at 1600 W. 7th Street
Fort Worth, Texas.
1992
Sold 4.6 million shares in a
secondary offering of common
stock raising $49 million.*
1992
Name changed from
Cash America Investments,
Inc. to Cash America
International, Inc.
1992
฀ While฀over฀70฀percent฀of฀our฀
pawn฀customers฀choose฀to฀repay฀their฀
loan฀plus฀related฀fees฀and฀redeem฀their฀
collateral,฀they฀have฀the฀option฀of฀allowing฀
Cash฀America฀to฀keep฀the฀item฀in฀full฀
satisfaction฀of฀the฀loan.฀฀We฀sell฀those฀
items฀in฀an฀inviting฀retail฀environment—฀
a฀far฀cry฀from฀the฀dimly฀lit,฀smoke-filled฀
pawn฀stores฀that฀are฀often฀portrayed฀
in฀movies฀and฀books.฀With฀friendly,฀
knowledgeable฀employees฀offering฀fair฀
and฀honest฀treatment฀in฀bright,฀attractive฀
stores,฀Cash฀America฀has฀changed฀the฀
course฀of฀history฀in฀20฀short฀years.
฀
What฀we’ve฀built฀is฀a฀company฀of฀
neighborhood฀financial฀service฀centers,฀
spanning฀the฀U.S.฀from฀the฀state฀of฀
Washington฀all฀the฀way฀to฀Florida.฀Our฀
customer-centric฀service฀approach฀has฀
led฀us฀to฀add฀such฀additional฀alternatives฀
as฀short-term฀cash฀advances,฀Western฀
Union฀products,฀bill฀payment฀and฀pre-
paid฀cell฀phones.฀Cash฀America฀has฀also฀
participated฀in฀the฀evolution฀of฀a฀cash฀
advance฀lending฀industry฀estimated฀at฀
$40฀billion฀a฀year.฀We’ve฀done฀our฀part฀
one฀customer฀at฀a฀time.
6 7
53%฀Jewelry
24%฀Electronics
10%฀Tools
8%฀Other
5%฀Musical฀฀
Instruments
* shares adjusted for stock splits
Opened 200th
pawnshop; operates in
8 states and the United
Kingdom.
1992
Pawn Lending
Collateral/Merchandise Mix
(as of December 31, 2004)