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General - Small Business
  • Why Multi-Unit Operators are Drawn to Winmark Franchises For over 30 years, Winmark – the Resale Company® has been helping franchisees fulfill their entrepreneurial dreams. With five resale brands under our belt and over 1,270 locations, people looking for a small business opportunity are impressed by the profitability, ... Continue Reading
  • What Joining a Top-Ranked Franchise Means for Prospective Franchisees After a year of rapid growth, Winmark – the Resale Company ® is heading into an equally strong 2022. Recently, three of our brands were ranked top franchises by Entrepreneur , with Once Upon A Child ® ranked #1 in its category as Play It Again Sports ® and Plato’s Closet ® ... Continue Reading
  • A Look at 2022 Retail Trends: How Resale Franchisees Can Prepare The New Year is just around the corner, and businesses everywhere are looking back at 2021 and planning next year's strategy. Not only is it important to look at your past data, but you should also look at up-and-coming trends within the retail industry. From virtual ... Continue Reading
  • How to Find the Best Employees for Your Resale Store It's no secret that this year has been one of the most unconventional in many ways. From the pandemic to the nationwide labor shortage, businesses everywhere have had to adapt more than ever before. Employees are at the heart of your business's operations. That's why there's ... Continue Reading

Music Go Round
  • What's the Outlook for the Resale Industry in 2022? As the economic environment remains full of uncertainty, inflation is taking over. Consumers are finding themselves spending more money on everyday items, from groceries to clothing. While this uptick in retail prices has not deterred people from buying, it has led them ... Continue Reading
  • A Look at 2022 Retail Trends: How Resale Franchisees Can Prepare The New Year is just around the corner, and businesses everywhere are looking back at 2021 and planning next year's strategy. Not only is it important to look at your past data, but you should also look at up-and-coming trends within the retail industry. From virtual ... Continue Reading
  • How to Find the Best Employees for Your Resale Store It's no secret that this year has been one of the most unconventional in many ways. From the pandemic to the nationwide labor shortage, businesses everywhere have had to adapt more than ever before. Employees are at the heart of your business's operations. That's why there's ... Continue Reading
  • 3 Common Misconceptions about Resale Stores If you're an aspiring or existing entrepreneur looking to break into the resale sector, you've likely done your research and run into popular misconceptions about the industry. These misconceptions typically create questions that demand answers before you can confidently ... Continue Reading

Once Upon A Child
  • Meet the Multi-Unit Franchisee Who Followed in His Father's Footsteps For over 15 years, Grady Farmer made a living working in radio. His career took him coast to coast - all the way from the Howard Stern show in New York to CBS Radio in Los Angeles. Still, he always knew his ultimate goal was to own a business. Ever since he can remember, ... Continue Reading
  • From Stay at Home Mom to Owning 18 Winmark Resale Stores, Meet Becky Finger All-Star Winmark Franchisee Becky Finger went from being a stay-at-home mom to owning 18 Winmark resale stores - and here’s how she did it. Prior to learning about Winmark brands, Once Upon A Child® and Plato’s Closet®, Becky attended Ohio University, where she graduated ... Continue Reading
  • What's the Outlook for the Resale Industry in 2022? As the economic environment remains full of uncertainty, inflation is taking over. Consumers are finding themselves spending more money on everyday items, from groceries to clothing. While this uptick in retail prices has not deterred people from buying, it has led them ... Continue Reading
  • A Natural Disaster Created a Beautiful Journey for this Multi-Unit Franchisee Before becoming a Winmark® multi-unit franchisee, Sarah Abbott Biss was a military spouse living in North Carolina. She and her husband at the time, a pilot, had a 14-month-old baby and needed to sell some of their baby's things after a catastrophic hurricane destroyed their ... Continue Reading

Plato's Closet
  • Meet the Multi-Unit Franchisee Who Followed in His Father's Footsteps For over 15 years, Grady Farmer made a living working in radio. His career took him coast to coast - all the way from the Howard Stern show in New York to CBS Radio in Los Angeles. Still, he always knew his ultimate goal was to own a business. Ever since he can remember, ... Continue Reading
  • From Stay at Home Mom to Owning 18 Winmark Resale Stores, Meet Becky Finger All-Star Winmark Franchisee Becky Finger went from being a stay-at-home mom to owning 18 Winmark resale stores - and here’s how she did it. Prior to learning about Winmark brands, Once Upon A Child® and Plato’s Closet®, Becky attended Ohio University, where she graduated ... Continue Reading
  • What's the Outlook for the Resale Industry in 2022? As the economic environment remains full of uncertainty, inflation is taking over. Consumers are finding themselves spending more money on everyday items, from groceries to clothing. While this uptick in retail prices has not deterred people from buying, it has led them ... Continue Reading
  • The Benefits of Gen Z Ditching Fast Fashion and Shopping Resale Of all the trends that have come and gone throughout the years, ditching fast fashion and shopping resale retail has been the most environmentally friendly trend yet. Although Gen Z isn't the first generation to shop resale retail, they're the generation that's making it ... Continue Reading

Play It Again Sports
  • Meet the Former Athletes Teaming Up to Open a Play It Again Sports They say that extracurricular activities, such as sports, can form unbreakable bonds. For Brian Melakian and Michael Ingersoll, their 30-year friendship has brought them together on the field - and now, in the franchise world. The two played college sports together and ... Continue Reading
  • How Play It Again Sports Helps Communities Stay Healthy At Play It Again Sports®, people are at the heart of all we do. By offering gently used and new gear at affordable prices, our franchisees make quality sports equipment more accessible for all families. In addition to accessibility, resale also has a positive impact on the ... Continue Reading
  • What's the Outlook for the Resale Industry in 2022? As the economic environment remains full of uncertainty, inflation is taking over. Consumers are finding themselves spending more money on everyday items, from groceries to clothing. While this uptick in retail prices has not deterred people from buying, it has led them ... Continue Reading
  • What Inspired These Life-Long Friends to Open a Play It Again Sports Franchise When it comes to their careers, some people have always known what they wanted to do, while others discover their passion later in life. Rob Lavoie and Cory Edwards are lifelong friends who have spent decades bonding over their love for sports. Both were introduced to ... Continue Reading

Style Encore
  • Women Franchise Partners at Style Encore Pay Forward Their Success Style Encore is Winmark’s newest brand, and it satisfies a crucial niche of consumers: Millennial and Gen Z professional women. A significant factor in Style Encore’s success is our franchise owners, many of who can empathize with their customer base. In other words, women ... Continue Reading
  • What's the Outlook for the Resale Industry in 2022? As the economic environment remains full of uncertainty, inflation is taking over. Consumers are finding themselves spending more money on everyday items, from groceries to clothing. While this uptick in retail prices has not deterred people from buying, it has led them ... Continue Reading
  • From Store Manager to Style Encore® Franchisee Rachel Barnett's spent her entire career with a Winmark® brand, starting with when she began at one of the very first Plato's Closet® franchises in Evansville, IN in 2000 as a college student. She had no idea that in less than 15 years, she would be the proud owner of her ... Continue Reading
  • A Look at 2022 Retail Trends: How Resale Franchisees Can Prepare The New Year is just around the corner, and businesses everywhere are looking back at 2021 and planning next year's strategy. Not only is it important to look at your past data, but you should also look at up-and-coming trends within the retail industry. From virtual ... Continue Reading

Winmark
  • Your Roadmap to Winmark: A Guide to Our Resale Brands With over three decades of resale experience under our belt, Winmark - the Resale Company has helped hundreds of aspiring entrepreneurs across North America achieve success in the resale industry. This week, we’re looking back at the story that started it all, our growth ... Continue Reading
  • 4 Ways Winmark Brands Have Something for Everyone Since opening our first store in 1988 under Play It Again Sports®, Winmark - the Resale Company® has grown to nearly 1,300 locations across North America. Our five resale brands fill the gaps in many communities - offering diverse products and expertise to help customers ... Continue Reading
  • 3 Ways Winmark Prepares Our Leaders for Success Did you know this week is National Management Training Week? At Winmark - the Resale Company®, we’ve been building strong leaders for over 30 years. From our forward-thinking corporate team to our franchisees and employees, everyone who represents our five resale brands does ... Continue Reading
  • 4 Ways Owning a Resale Franchise Can Impact Your Community For over 30 years, our resale brands have been making a difference in communities across North America. From helping others to discover new passions to providing affordable solutions, bringing people together and promoting sustainability, many of our franchisees list giving ... Continue Reading