by Company focuses on growth potential of the 65-year-old rent-to-own retailer
ORLANDO, Fla. — Skyline Investors, the new owner of Buddy’s Home Furnishings, sees promise after a tumultuous few years under previous ownership. In December 2025, the private equity firm purchased Buddy’s Home Furnishings from Fusion Parent LLC. Prior to that, the retailer was acquired in 2019 by Franchise Group, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2024.
“This is an opportunity for us to support a management team and franchise networking that has faced challenges but continues to show resilience,” said Jeremy May, founder and managing partner at Skyline Investors, which is headquartered in Los Angeles. “We see the opportunity to transition the business into a new chapter and provide additional strategic support and capital to put the business in a position to flourish again.”
The Orlando, Florida-based retailer specializes in rent-to-own furnishings, appliances and electronics. In 2026, Buddy’s is celebrating its 65th year in business and currently operates more than 220 franchise and corporate locations worldwide.
“Our view is (Buddy’s) has been underinvested in key areas such as technology and data analytics,” said Kevin Tom, founder and managing partner at Skyline Investors. “The timing was right for us to come in and establish some foundations to support the future of the brand. That’s why we think of it as a really advantageous time to partner with Buddy’s.”
Tom said that Buddy’s Home Furnishings operates more akin to a large independent with greater nimbleness compared to other players in the rent-to-own industry. Currently, Aaron’s and Rent-A-Center are the largest rent-to-own companies in the U.S.
Skyline Investors is still in the early stages of its ownership of Buddy’s Furniture. May stated the company is currently in the process of understanding the needs and goals of its franchise partners, as well as the challenges they’ve faced over the past few years.
“Our initial focus is on listening to understand and hearing what the business has accomplished, identifying areas of improvement and condensing that information into a comprehensive strategic plan,” May shared. May added that Skyline Investors is “growth-oriented,” so franchise partners should expect positive changes, enhancing their future success.
From May and Tom’s perspective, Buddy’s is customer-centric, which they say is a key tenet for most of the investments they make through Skyline Investors.
“Buddy’s is very much a service and a relationship business as much as a retail business,” May said. “I think that helps it be resilient and steadfast through a lot of challenges.”
With its customer-focused model already in place, Skyline Investors sees opportunities to expand Buddy’s franchise network and strengthen its existing footprint by leveraging technology.
“We’re very much focused on putting both Buddy’s business and our franchise partners in a position to succeed,” May added. “We recognize that for the Buddy’s brand to be successful, we need to make sure our franchisees’ businesses are successful as well.”
Alongside franchise profitability, technology and data will also be focus areas.
May said that taking advantage of information will be crucial to better serve customers and understand their needs. Implementing tools to understand and visualize data and presenting that data to store managers and franchisees will be a priority.
“We believe that Buddy’s has the ability to be the best-in-class within this industry, and so we look to support those endeavors,” May said.
