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General - Small Business
  • Curbside Delivery Helping Resale Franchisees Keep their Customers Safe With shelter-in-place orders issued in many states in the U.S. and countries around the world due to COVID-19, businesses of all sizes and industries are learning how to evolve to best serve their customers. The same is true of Winmark resale brands Once Upon A Child®, Play ... Continue Reading
  • How Sustainable Franchise Concepts Influence Culture Franchising and sustainability are increasingly being uttered in the same conversations among franchise prospects and franchisors alike. Environmentally friendly franchise business concepts provide those seeking a pathway to entrepreneurship with an opportunity to become a ... Continue Reading
  • Why Resale Franchises Are a Truly Recession-Proof Business The Great Recession showed us how quickly a flourishing economy can topple and plummet to new depths – in this case, leveling out at the lowest point of the post-World War II era. Undoubtedly, small business owners were some of the hardest hit, and more than 170,000 small ... Continue Reading
  • Is Now the Tipping Point for the $24 Billion Resale Industry? After decades of steady momentum, a sound argument can be made for resale having reached a point of maturity. As of 2018, the industry was valued at $24 billion, and experts predict it will grow to $64 billion by 2028 . The past few years have demonstrated rapid growth for ... Continue Reading

Music Go Round
  • What's Good for Resale Retail Franchises is also Good for Local Communities Despite the diminutive classification, small businesses have an outsized impact on the American economy. There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. , comprising the majority of all enterprises in the country. Compared to large, non-local organizations, small ... Continue Reading
  • A Franchisee’s Guide to the Most Important Sections of a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) While a franchise disclosure document (FDD) appears daunting to the potential franchisee, taking the time to thoroughly review the document in its entirety can help answer many questions and provide a transparent overview of a franchise opportunity. To make it a little less ... Continue Reading
  • How this Music Store Franchise Attracts All Levels of Musicians It’s never too early or too late to take up a musical instrument and reap the benefits of its impact on academic success, cognitive function and self-confidence. By providing local musicians with quality used musical instruments, Music Go Round® franchisees have the ... Continue Reading
  • How Do I Know if Owning a Franchise is Right for Me? Everywhere you go, you’re bound to pass more than one franchised business – and for good reason. Franchises offer advantages that start-ups and mom-and-pop businesses can’t provide. United under one trademark, they give franchisees access to proven operational models, group ... Continue Reading

Once Upon A Child
  • How Event-Based Marketing Helps Retail Franchisees Drive Demand Using events to boost sales and customer reach has always been valuable to retail business owners. Due to social distancing in public spaces and limited capacity in businesses, owners have had to get creative with their event-based marketing while staying within ... Continue Reading
  • What Have We Learned After 30 Years in the Resale Retail Industry? Since 1988, Winmark has been part of the retail industry, specializing in the resale segment. Our journey began with the acquisition of Play It Again Sports® and has continued with our most recent addition of Style Encore® in 2013. We’ve pioneered the “ultra-high-value” ... Continue Reading
  • What's Good for Resale Retail Franchises is also Good for Local Communities Despite the diminutive classification, small businesses have an outsized impact on the American economy. There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. , comprising the majority of all enterprises in the country. Compared to large, non-local organizations, small ... Continue Reading
  • How Does Once Upon A Child Compare to Other Kid’s Resale Franchises? Consumers turn to resale businesses for the affordable prices, the ability to earn cash for their gently used items and positive environmental impact. Under the Winmark family of resale franchise brands, we have five concepts that cater to a variety of consumer needs. Once ... Continue Reading

Plato's Closet
  • How Event-Based Marketing Helps Retail Franchisees Drive Demand Using events to boost sales and customer reach has always been valuable to retail business owners. Due to social distancing in public spaces and limited capacity in businesses, owners have had to get creative with their event-based marketing while staying within ... Continue Reading
  • What Have We Learned After 30 Years in the Resale Retail Industry? Since 1988, Winmark has been part of the retail industry, specializing in the resale segment. Our journey began with the acquisition of Play It Again Sports® and has continued with our most recent addition of Style Encore® in 2013. We’ve pioneered the “ultra-high-value” ... Continue Reading
  • What's Good for Resale Retail Franchises is also Good for Local Communities Despite the diminutive classification, small businesses have an outsized impact on the American economy. There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. , comprising the majority of all enterprises in the country. Compared to large, non-local organizations, small ... Continue Reading
  • A Franchisee’s Guide to the Most Important Sections of a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) While a franchise disclosure document (FDD) appears daunting to the potential franchisee, taking the time to thoroughly review the document in its entirety can help answer many questions and provide a transparent overview of a franchise opportunity. To make it a little less ... Continue Reading

Play It Again Sports
  • What Have We Learned After 30 Years in the Resale Retail Industry? Since 1988, Winmark has been part of the retail industry, specializing in the resale segment. Our journey began with the acquisition of Play It Again Sports® and has continued with our most recent addition of Style Encore® in 2013. We’ve pioneered the “ultra-high-value” ... Continue Reading
  • What's Good for Resale Retail Franchises is also Good for Local Communities Despite the diminutive classification, small businesses have an outsized impact on the American economy. There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. , comprising the majority of all enterprises in the country. Compared to large, non-local organizations, small ... Continue Reading
  • Affordable Sports Equipment is Paying Off for Sporting Goods Franchise Owners With the growth of pay-to-play sports teams and leagues driving up the ever-increasing cost of participation in youth sports, many families are being forced to choose between their children’s extracurricular activities and staying within a budget. Luckily, Play It Again ... Continue Reading
  • A Franchisee’s Guide to the Most Important Sections of a Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) While a franchise disclosure document (FDD) appears daunting to the potential franchisee, taking the time to thoroughly review the document in its entirety can help answer many questions and provide a transparent overview of a franchise opportunity. To make it a little less ... Continue Reading

Style Encore
  • How Event-Based Marketing Helps Retail Franchisees Drive Demand Using events to boost sales and customer reach has always been valuable to retail business owners. Due to social distancing in public spaces and limited capacity in businesses, owners have had to get creative with their event-based marketing while staying within ... Continue Reading
  • What Have We Learned After 30 Years in the Resale Retail Industry? Since 1988, Winmark has been part of the retail industry, specializing in the resale segment. Our journey began with the acquisition of Play It Again Sports® and has continued with our most recent addition of Style Encore® in 2013. We’ve pioneered the “ultra-high-value” ... Continue Reading
  • What's Good for Resale Retail Franchises is also Good for Local Communities Despite the diminutive classification, small businesses have an outsized impact on the American economy. There are more than 30 million small businesses in the U.S. , comprising the majority of all enterprises in the country. Compared to large, non-local organizations, small ... Continue Reading
  • Style Encore Franchise Owners Able to Capitalize on Ecommerce Style Encore® is the first of Winmark’s apparel resale franchises to develop a robust ecommerce platform to complement its brick-and-mortar model. The brand is building off the success of our two non-apparel franchises, Music Go Round® and Play It Again Sports®. Music Go ... Continue Reading

Winmark
  • What You Should Know about the Current Financing Landscape for Franchisees Knowing how you’re going to fund opening your new business is essential as you decide which franchise opportunities to pursue. Fortunately, the current financial landscape has a multitude of options for franchisees to fund their businesses, and interest rates on lending for ... Continue Reading
  • 4 Essential Questions to Ask while Researching Franchise Opportunities Deciding to make the switch from working for someone else to working for yourself can be a scary process. At the same time, it is an incredibly exciting move that can give you greater control over your own destiny and provide for your family for years to come. However, ... Continue Reading
  • How to Assess Retail Franchise Opportunities Once you’ve decided that entering the retail franchise space is the right move, it’s time to search for the right brand and business concept. You'll need to evaluate and assess start-up costs, company values, corporate support, differentiators, as well as many other ... Continue Reading
  • Curbside Delivery Helping Resale Franchisees Keep their Customers Safe With shelter-in-place orders issued in many states in the U.S. and countries around the world due to COVID-19, businesses of all sizes and industries are learning how to evolve to best serve their customers. The same is true of Winmark resale brands Once Upon A Child®, Play ... Continue Reading