Rent-to-own News - Baber's success is a family affair

Shannon Strunk and Cynthia Baber-Strunk.

Baber's is a $30 million, Pascagoula-based business that has built its success by operating as a family, declares a recent article in the Sun Herald which covers Biloxi-Gulfport and South Mississippi.

The company's story began in 1959 when James Baber opened a Firestone store in Pascagoula. In 1981, he converted the business to offer rent-to-own furniture and appliances and changed the name to Baber’s Leasing, opening the first store on the corner of U.S. 90 and Market Street.

Today, his daughter-in-law, Chief Executive Officer Cynthia Baber-Strunk, and her husband, President Shannon Strunk, oversee 51 Baber’s stores, including 31 in Mississippi, and 10 Rent-N-Roll stores, a subsidiary that offers custom tires and wheels for rent or purchase.

Shannon said the success of Baber’s is due mostly to heavy family involvement. They have two sons, a daughter and a son-in-law involved in operations. Cynthia, the widow of James Baber’s son, Barry, said while they encouraged their children to participate in the business, nothing was handed to them.

“Shannon and I were firm believers that they had to earn what they got,” she said. “They all moved away and thought they never wanted to come back, but they all did, one by one.”

Being family-owned and operated rather than a franchise allows the business to roll with changes. Baber’s has grown by offering electronics, jewelry, video games and riding lawn mowers.

“We’re not a mom-and-pop, but we constantly rail against being a bureaucracy,” Strunk said. “We can be much more dynamic in change. The success of rent-to-own comes from providing a product to customers. It’s about getting exactly what you want when you want it.”

Shannon said the company changed its name from Baber’s Leasing to Baber’s Rent-to-Own to alleviate confusion among those who didn’t understand leasing. He said the change helped the business grow “significantly.”

Baber’s annual purchases range between $7 million to $8 million, Strunk told the Sun Herald. Their contributions to Mississippi received recognition recently when the Tupelo Furniture Market presented the company with its National Buyer Appreciation Award. Baber’s has purchased from the Tupelo market since 1988. Of 42 previous winners, Baber’s was only the third Mississippi recipient.

The Strunks are also committed to economic development on a larger scale and are spearheading development of a 413,000-square-foot mixed-use development, Strunk Centre, in Pascagoula that will provide 140 temporary and 400 permanent jobs in the retail, restaurant and commercial sectors.

The center concept began with a desire to contribute to the revitalization of Pascagoula in the wake of hurricane Katrina and will provide Pascagoula and Jackson County a much needed expansion of industrial office space, commercial office space, retail, and residential areas.