Rent-A-Center, Inc. and Rent-Way, Inc. Announce Expiration of Hart-Scott-Rodino Waiting Period

Rent-A-Center, Inc. (the "Company" or "Rent-A-Center")
(NASDAQ/NGS: RCII), the nation's largest rent-to-own operator, and
Rent-Way, Inc. ("Rent-Way") (NYSE: RWY), a major rental purchase
company operating 784 stores in 34 states, announced today that the
waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act
of 1976, as amended, relating to the Company's proposed acquisition of
Rent-Way, expired on September 13, 2006. The proposed merger, which
the parties anticipate will be completed in the fourth quarter of
2006, remains subject to approval by the shareholders of Rent-Way and
other customary closing conditions for a transaction of this nature.
   Rent-A-Center, Inc., headquartered in Plano, Texas, currently
operates approximately 2,750 company-owned stores nationwide and in
Canada and Puerto Rico. The stores generally offer high-quality,
durable goods such as major consumer electronics, appliances,
computers and furniture and accessories under flexible rental purchase
agreements that generally 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 franchiser of approximately 290 rent-to-own stores,
approximately 282 of which operate under the trade name of
"ColorTyme," and the remaining 8 of which operate under the
"Rent-A-Center" name.
   Rent-Way offers quality, brand name home entertainment equipment,
furniture, computers, major appliances and jewelry at approximately
784 rental-purchase stores in 34 states. Established in 1981, Rent-Way
is headquartered in Erie, Pennsylvania, and employs approximately
4,000 associates.

   IMPORTANT INFORMATION

   In connection with the proposed merger, Rent-Way has filed a
preliminary proxy statement and intends to file a final proxy
statement and related materials concerning the transaction with the
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC. THESE DOCUMENTS WILL
CONTAIN IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED MERGER AND
SHAREHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THEM CAREFULLY WHEN THEY BECOME
AVAILABLE. When available, Rent-Way will mail the final proxy
statement and related materials to its shareholders. When filed with
the SEC, the final proxy statement and related materials will be
available for free (along with any other documents and reports filed
by Rent-Way with the SEC) at the SEC's website, http://www.sec.gov,
and at Rent-Way's website, http://www.rentway.com.

   Participant Information

   Rent-Way and its directors and executive officers may be deemed to
be participants in the solicitation of proxies from Rent-Way
shareholders in connection with the proposed merger. Certain
information regarding the participants and their interests in the
solicitation is set forth in the proxy statement for Rent-Way's 2006
annual meeting of shareholders filed with the SEC on January 31, 2006,
and a Form 10-K filed by Rent-Way with the SEC on December 29, 2005,
both of which are available free of charge from the SEC and Rent-Way
at their websites as indicated above. Information regarding the
interests of these persons in the solicitation will be more
specifically set forth in the proxy statement concerning the proposed
merger that will be filed by Rent-Way with the SEC and which will be
available free of charge from the SEC and from Rent-Way at their
websites, as indicated above.
   In addition, Rent-A-Center and its officers and directors may be
deemed to have participated in the solicitation of proxies from
Rent-Way's shareholders in favor of the approval of the acquisition.
Information concerning Rent-A-Center's directors and executive
officers is set forth in Rent-A-Center's proxy statement for its 2006
annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on March
31, 2006, and annual report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on March
10, 2006. These documents are available free of charge at the SEC's
website at www.sec.gov or by going to Rent-A-Center's Investor
Relations website at www.rentacenter.com.
   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," "could," "estimate,"
"should," "anticipate," or "believe," or the negative thereof or
variations thereon or similar terminology. Although the parties
believe that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking
statements will prove to be correct, the parties can give no assurance
that such expectations will prove to have been correct. The actual
future performance of the Company and Rent-Way could differ materially
from such statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such
differences include, but are not limited to: (i) the approval of the
transaction by Rent-Way's shareholders, (ii) the ability of the
parties to close the transaction in the time period currently
anticipated, (iii) the satisfaction of the closing conditions to the
transaction, (iv) the Company's ability to obtain acceptable
financing, and (v) the other risks detailed from time to time in the
Company's and Rent-Way's SEC reports, including but not limited to,
the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2005 and its quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended
March 31, 2006 and June 30, 2006 and Rent-Way's annual report on Form
10-K for the year ended September 30, 2005 and its quarterly reports
on Form 10-Q for the quarters ended December 31, 2005, March 30, 2006
and June 30, 2006. 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 required by law, the Company and
Rent-Way are not obligated to publicly release any revisions to these
forward-looking statements to reflect the events or circumstances
after the date of this press release or to reflect the occurrence of
unanticipated events.