FAQs

Successful Winmark franchisees are properly capitalized, hard-working, process-oriented, and strong with people. Prior retail experience helps but isn't required — Winmark's training program is built to bring motivated, organized owners who enjoy working with the public up to speed on brand-specific product knowledge.

No. Many successful franchisees come from corporate careers, the military, or re-entering the workforce with no retail background. Winmark's 65+ hours of training is designed to close that gap.

You need to be an owner-operator, or have a qualified owner-operator actively running the business.

Winmark has more than 2,800 territories available across the U.S. and Canada across its five brands. See each brand's Available Territories page for open markets near you.

You don't need a space lined up before signing a franchise agreement — in fact, Winmark recommends against it. Winmark teaches its site-selection criteria in your first week of training, then supports your search with Winmark staff plus local and national tenant brokers through site review, negotiation, and lease signing.

Store footprints run 3,000–4,500 square feet depending on brand: Plato's Closet and Once Upon A Child run 3,500–4,500 sq ft; Play It Again Sports runs 3,500–4,000 sq ft; Style Encore and Music Go Round run 3,000–4,000 sq ft.

Winmark provides 65+ hours of classroom and in-store training covering business planning, retail site selection, store setup, proprietary POS/computer systems, advertising and marketing, store operations, and product knowledge specific to your brand.

Yes. Ongoing support comes from dedicated field operations managers, an online Learning Management System, and annual franchise conferences and regional meetings. Franchisees can also return to repeat any portion of classroom training at no additional cost.

Every store runs on Winmark's proprietary point-of-sale and pricing system, purpose-built for buying, pricing, and reselling used merchandise — plus ongoing tech support from Winmark's support center for both proprietary and third-party software, network, and hardware issues.

During training you'll learn Winmark's proprietary buy/price system, then your store spends roughly 8–10 weeks buying gently used inventory — without selling anything — ahead of grand opening, so you launch with a full, curated assortment.

The Initial Franchise Fee is $25,000 across all Winmark brands. It covers the rights to your defined territory, use of the brand's trademarks, access to the proprietary operating system, and all pre-opening training and support.

Play It Again Sports® and Music Go Round®

The average total estimated initial investment to open a Play It Again Sports store is approximately $346,300 - $459,700** and Music Go Round store is approximately $335,300 - $443,700**. In order to financially qualify, you’ll need to have at least 30% ($90,000 to $105,000) of the investment in non-borrowed personal resources (liquid assets, i.e. cash, stock, or marketable securities) and enough equity to collateralize the balance. The total cost will vary based on size and location.

Once Upon A Child®, Plato’s Closet®, and Style Encore®

The average total estimated initial investment to open a Plato’s Closet store is approximately $355,700 to $467,900**, and Once Upon A Child is approximately $355,700 to $485,900**, and Style Encore is approximately $339,200 to $485,900** . In order to financially qualify, you’ll need to have at least $75,000 to $105,000 in non-borrowed personal resources (liquid assets, i.e. cash, stock, or marketable securities) and enough equity to collateralize the balance. The total cost will vary based on size and location.

The initial term is 10 years, with additional 10-year renewal terms available.

Total investment ranges from roughly $335,000 to $486,000 depending on brand, size, and market — see each brand's FAQ section below for exact ranges. Every Winmark brand requires a minimum of $90,000 in non-borrowed liquid assets plus equity to collateralize the remaining balance.

Winmark does not lend directly. Franchisees typically finance their store through a third-party lender using an SBA loan — all five Winmark brands are listed on the SBA Franchise Registry, which speeds up that process — and Winmark helps prepare the business plan the lender will require. Winmark currently has two preferred lenders that franchisees can use to finance their store.

Style Encore
In 2025, the average Style Encore store had sales of $959,541 with an average gross profit of $570,465*. The top quartile representing 15 Style Encore stores had average sales of $1,631,150*.

*The Average Store numbers are the 2025 Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit amounts stated in Item 19 of the 2026 Style Encore® Franchise Disclosure Documents (as reported by the 62 stores that had been in operation at least one year as of December 30, 2025). Of the 23 stores, 29 or 47% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Sales and 30 or 48% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Profit. The top quartile Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit only relates to the 15 Style Encore® Stores that ranked in the top 25% of the gross sales range. Of the 15 stores in the top quartile, 5 or 33% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Sales and 8 or 53% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Profit. A new franchisee’s results will likely differ from these results.

Plato’s Closet
In 2025, the average Plato’s Closet store had sales of $1,307,875 with an average gross profit of $833,084*. The top quartile representing 123 Plato’s Closet stores had average sales of $2,033,682*

*The Average Store numbers are the 2025 Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit amounts stated in Item 19 of the 2026 Plato’s Closet® Franchise Disclosure Documents (as reported by the 492 stores that had been in operation at least one year as of December 30, 2025). Of the 492 stores, 195 or 40% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Sales and 198 or 40% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Profit. The top quartile Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit only relates to the 123 Plato’s Closet® Stores that ranked in the top 25% of the gross sales range. Of the 123 stores in the top quartile, 50 or 41% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Sales and 52 or 42% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Profit. A new franchisee’s results will likely differ from these results.
 

Once Upon A Child
In 2025, the average Once Upon A Child store had sales of $1,268,984 with an average gross profit of $846,489*. The top quartile representing 102 Once Upon A Child stores had average sales of $2,009,668*.

*The average Store numbers are the 2025 Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit amounts stated in Schedule “I” of the 2026 Once Upon A Child® Franchise Disclosure Document (as reported by the 408 stores in the U.S. and Canada that had been in operation at least one year as of December 31, 2025). Of the 408 stores, 175 or 43% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Sales and 175 or 43% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Profit. The top quartile Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit only relates to the 102 Once Upon A Child® Stores that ranked in the top 25% of the gross sales range. Of the 102 stores in the top quartile, 35 or 34% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Sales and 32 or 31% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Profit. A new franchisee’s results will likely differ from these results.

Music Go Round
In 2025, the average Music Go Round store had sales of $1,578,281 with an average gross profit of $715,686*. The top quartile representing 7 Music Go Round stores had average sales of $2,905,277*

*The Average Store numbers are the 2025 Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit amounts stated in Schedule “I” of the 2026 Music Go Round® Franchise Disclosure Document (as reported by the 31 stores in the U.S. that had been in operation at least one year as of December 31, 2025). Of the 31 stores, 9 or 47.4% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Sales and 10 or 52.6% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Profit. The top quartile Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit only relates to the 7 Music Go Round® Stores that ranked in the top 25% of the gross sales range. Of the 7 stores in the top quartile, 3 or 43% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit. A new franchisee’s results will likely differ from these results.

Play It Again Sports
In 2025, the average Play It Again Sports store had sales of $1,172,630 with an average gross profit of $625,208*. The top quartile representing 71 Play It Again Sports stores had average sales of $2,028,493 with an average gross profit of $1,049,621*.

*The Average Store numbers are the 2025 Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit amounts stated in Item 19 of the 2026 Play It Again Sports® Franchise Disclosure Documents (as reported by the 287 stores that had been in operation at least one year as of December 30, 2025). Of the 287 stores, 114 or 40% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Sales and 114 or 40% of the stores attained or exceeded the Average Gross Profit. The top quartile Average Gross Sales and Average Gross Profit only relates to the 71 Play It Again Sports® Stores that ranked in the top 25% of the gross sales range. Of the 71 stores in the top quartile, 21 or 30% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Sales and 18 or 25% of the stores attained or exceeded the top quartile Average Gross Profit. A new franchisee’s results will likely differ from these results.

A resale franchise buys gently used goods directly from customers for cash, then resells that inventory — plus some new product — at 30–90% below traditional retail. Inventory cost is typically far lower than a traditional retailer's, supporting strong gross margins.

Resale spending growth outpaced traditional retail in 2024–2025, driven by value-conscious shoppers and rising demand for sustainable consumption. The U.S. franchising sector overall is projected to reach ~845,000 establishments and $921B+ in economic output in 2026 (IFA), and resale is one of the categories benefiting most from that momentum.

Winmark has 35+ years of resale-specific experience, a 99% franchisee renewal rate, proprietary buy/sell technology built specifically for used-goods pricing, and a support team that completes 3,000+ franchisee visits a year. Over 50% of the current franchise system owns more than one Winmark brand or location — a strong internal signal of satisfaction. Winmark has a strong focus on marketing, technology and innovation. Winmark has a set of tools and services that may include digital marketing, customer relationship management, loyalty and rewards programs, customer messaging capabilities, ecommerce integrations, point-of-sale enhancements, business analytics, reporting, and other technology solutions.

Winmark owns Play It Again Sports (sporting goods, acquired 1988), Once Upon A Child (kids' apparel and gear, 1993), Music Go Round (musical instruments, 1994), Plato's Closet (teen and young-adult apparel, 1999), and Style Encore (women's and men's fashion, 2013).