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Wikipedia

Winmark

April 17, 2024

Winmark Corporation is an American franchisor of five retail businesses that specialize in buying and selling used goods. The company is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Winmark was founded in 1988 as Play It Again Sports Franchise Corporation by Ron Olson and Jeffrey Dahlberg after they purchased the Play It Again Sports franchise rights from Martha Morris. They renamed the company to Grow Biz International Inc. in June 1993. Grow Biz went public in August 1993. In 2000, John Morgan replaced Dahlberg as CEO and renamed the company to Winmark in 2001. Morgan rescued Winmark from the verge of bankruptcy by selling financially failing franchise concepts and stores and replacing the management team. The company's strategy was to move from owning stores itself to having franchisees own all the stores.

Winmark Corporation
Winmark Corporation's logo
Formerly
  • Play It Again Sports Franchise Corporation (1988–1993)
  • Grow Biz International Inc. (1993–2001)
  • Winmark Corporation (2001–present)
Company typePublic
Nasdaq: WINA
Russell 2000 Component
Founded1988; 36 years ago (1988)
FoundersRon Olson and Jeffrey Dahlberg
HeadquartersMinneapolis, Minnesota
Key people
Brett Heffes (CEO)
Divisions
  • Music Go Round
  • Once Upon a Child
  • Plato's Closet
  • Play It Again Sports
  • Style Encore
SubsidiariesWirth Business Credit
Websitewinmarkcorporation.com

Winmark Corporation owns five franchise-based retail companies that focus on used goods: Music Go Round (musical instruments), Once Upon a Child (children's clothes and toys), Plato's Closet (adolescent and young adult clothes), Play It Again Sports (sports equipment), and Style Encore (women's clothing). Winmark also owned but subsequently sold four franchise-based retailed companies: Computer Renaissance (computer equipment), Disc Go Round (CDs), It's About Game (computer games and video games), and ReTool (tools). Its subsidiary Wirth Business Credit is a small-business supplies leasing company.

Around 2013, research company IBISWorld reported that in the used goods outlet market, Goodwill Industries was first with a 21.5% share, Winmark was second with nearly 6%, and The Salvation Army was third with nearly 4%. In 2016, Winmark had a $1 billion market share in the $17 billion resell industry through its 1,170 franchisees.

History edit

Ron Olson and Jeffrey Dahlberg started a consulting firm, Franchise Business Systems,[1] in 1986.[2] Olson had been the president of R.J. Brandon Galleries and Dahlberg had been the chief executive officer of his father Kenneth H. Dahlberg's company, Dahlberg Inc. (now Miracle-Ear).[2] Martha Morris was an initial customer of Olson and Dahlberg's consulting company.[2] Morris, who started Play It Again Sports in 1983 in Uptown, Minneapolis, had purchased camping and backpacking supplies, found out she was not interested in camping, and decided to sell her used goods.[2][3] She had attempted to sell a costly, lightly used backpack through making ads and visiting a sports shop, where an employee told her, "We don't sell used equipment." Morris decided to start her own store since she believed other people might have used sports equipment they would like to sell.[1]

Morris expressed a desire to make her idea a franchise. Although Olson and Dahlberg were first concerned about the idea's outlook for success, their worries disappeared after they dropped by her outlet a Saturday morning and found a line of 10 customers before Morris' store had even opened.[2] Their strategy to captivate franchisees was to add urbanity to something they called a "garage sale-looking environment" but not harm the initial idea.[2] Olson and Dahlberg quickly realized they preferred to be the owners of a company instead of be advisers. Morris sold her Play It Again Sports franchise rights to Olson and Dahlberg in 1988. She sold her stores to them in 1990.[2] Play It Again Sports became Winmark's first division.[3]

The company was incorporated as Play It Again Sports Franchise Corporation in 1988[3] and was renamed to Grow Biz International Inc. in June 1993.[2] It went public in August 1993.[2][4] The company was listed on NASDAQ as GBIZ;[5] it is now listed on NASDAQ as WINA.[6] In 1995, a significant number of the company's franchises were on Entrepreneur's annual "Franchise 500" list.[3] In 2001, Grow Biz was renamed to Winmark Corporation.[7][8] Winmark Corporation is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[9]

In March 2000, John Morgan took over as CEO from Jeff Dahlberg.[7] By a year after joining the company as CEO, Morgan rescued Winmark from the precipice of bankruptcy by introducing stringent review of franchisee finances, shuttering failing Play It Again Sports stores, and appointing his own people to executive and board positions.[10] Morgan chose Steve Briggs, who had been at Valspar, as the company's president. He selected as board members Kirk MacKenzie, whom he had worked with at Winthrop Resources, and Paul Reyelts, the chief financial officer at Valspar.[11] In June 2000, Winmark sold its corporate headquarters building to Koch Trucking.[12] The company had lost $350,700 in 2000; in 2001, it had a net income of $3.2 million.[13] Morgan said in a 2009 interview with the Star Tribune about the state of Winmark before he joined, "The company was very good at selling franchises, but it was still losing money."[4] Around 2002, Winmark sold the franchises Retool, Computer Renaissance and Disc-Go-Round.[14]

In 2011, Winmark was ranked the 11th company on Forbes's "The Top 20 Small Public Companies In America".[15] Around 2013, research company IBISWorld found that in the used goods outlet market, Goodwill Industries was first with a 21.5% share, Winmark was second with nearly 6%, and The Salvation Army was third with nearly 4%.[16] In 2016, the company had a $1 billion market share in the $17 billion resell industry through its 1,170 franchisees.[17]

In February 2016, President Brett Heffes was chosen as Winmark's next CEO, succeeding John Morgan, who became the executive chairman.[18] According to a 2014 article in The Toronto Star, Morgan holds the most shares in the company.[19]

Franchises edit

Winmark Corporation owns five franchise-based retail companies that focus on used goods: Music Go Round (musical instruments), Once Upon a Child (children's clothes and toys), Plato's Closet (adolescent and young adult clothes), Play It Again Sports (sports equipment), and Style Encore (women's clothing).[20][21] Winmark sold four franchise-based retailed companies: Computer Renaissance (computer equipment), Disc Go Round (CDs), It's About Game (computer games and video games), and ReTool (tools).

The cost to become a franchisee in 2009 was $25,000 and five percent of the franchisee's gross revenue.[4] Franchisees further are required to pay Winmark for advertising and miscellaneous assistance.[19] Although Winmark's contract with franchisees does not allot them territories, the contract ensures that any rival outlets must be located five or more miles away.[22]

Despite Winmark's specializing in used goods, its stores sell new goods too.[4] Through its many stores, Winmark uses its buying power to negotiate competitive prices for the stores' new goods.[23] It also teaches franchisees about the used goods industry and offers pricing software to establish standards for the used goods they purchase.[23]

Between 2006 and 2010, Winmark started around 50 stores annually.[24] In 2013, Winmark had over 1,000 franchised stores—none of which it owned—that in total had sales of over $900 million.[7]

Current franchises edit

Music Go Round edit

Music Go Round purchases, sells, and exchanges used musical instruments and paraphernalia.[25] Founded as Hi-Tech Consignments in Minneapolis by Bill Shell in 1986, Winmark purchased it in 1993 and renamed it to Music Go Round.[5][26] In 2009, roughly 30% of Music Go Round's musical instruments purchased were new.[4] In 2011, it had 35 locations in the United States.[25] In 2010, the complete cost to start a Music Go Round was $300,000 and the average yearly sales were between $650,000 and $725,000.[24]

Once Upon a Child edit

Once Upon a Child purchases and sells used children's attire and toys.[25] The first Once Upon a Child store was opened in 1985 in Perrysburg, Ohio, by Dennis and Lynn Blum in 1985 after they observed Goodwill Industries accepting and selling used baby attire.[27] Prior to opening a store, Lynn Blum had been selling her three sons' and friends' and neighbors' clothing in a garage sale from her house every week. Her husband resigned from his employment in 1989 to work with Lynn .[28] Winmark purchased the company in 1992. In 2009, roughly 10% of Once Upon a Child's children's attire and playthings purchased were new.[4] In 2011, it had 240 locations in the United States and 24 in Canada.[25] In 2010, the complete cost to start a Once Upon a Child was between $200,000 and $250,000 and the average yearly sales were between $650,000 and $725,000.[24]

Plato's Closet edit

Plato's Closet purchases and sells used brand name teenager and young adult clothing, shoes, and paraphernalia.[25] It focuses on clothes for people ages 12 to 24.[29][30] Winmark purchased Plato's Closet from Dennis and Lynn Blum, the founders of Once Upon a Child, in 1998.[27][31] The store's name was inspired by a Blum son's schoolwork about Plato who had been an early advocate of recycling, which paralleled the aim to recycle used clothes.[27][31] In 2011, there were over 280 franchisees in the United States and Canada.[25] In 2010, the complete cost to start a Plato's Closet was between $200,000 and $250,000 and the average yearly sales were $825,000.[24]

A 2001 article in the Star Tribune noted that Plato's Closet in 2001 stocked up on brand names such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap Inc., Silver Jeans Co., Sean John, Express, Inc., and Dr. Martens that they sold at a markdown of between 50% and 75%.[14] Unlike consignment shops, Plato's Closet pays sellers on the spot.[14] Used clothes are purchased at between 30% and 40% of what Plato's Closet intends to sell them at.[29] In a 2009 interview with Star Tribune, CEO John Morgan said Plato's Closet did the best during the Great Recession among Winmark's franchises because people were more likely to sell used clothing to make money and to buy used clothing to save money.[4]

Play It Again Sports edit

Main article: Play It Again Sports

Play It Again Sports purchases and sells used sports goods and is Winmark's largest chain.[4][25] Roughly 70% of Play It Again Sports' sports equipment is new.[4] In 2011, it had over 330 locations in the United States and Canada.[25] In 2010, the complete cost to start a Play It Again Sports was $300,000 and the average yearly sales were between $650,000 and $725,000.[24]

Style Encore edit

Style Encore buys and sells used women's clothing. In January 2013, Winmark announced that it would start a new franchise, Style Encore, that would focus on used women's clothing. The first store opened in Texas in August 2013.[21] Style Encore immediately pays cash to people looking to sell used women's attire, footwear, handbags, and jewelry.[32]

Former franchises edit

Computer Renaissance edit

Computer Renaissance bought and sold new and used computer supplies such as computers, computer memory, computer monitors, and printers.[33] The store also sold computer games and books and helped customers build custom computers.[34] Computer Renaissance was started in 1993.[35] On July 7, 2000, Winmark sold Computer Renaissance, which had 209 stores, to Jack Hollis' Hollis Technologies LLC in Lakeland, Florida, for $3 million. Hollis had been a Computer Renaissance franchisee.[12] CEO John Morgan said that whereas Music Go Round's used musical equipment did not depreciate, Computer Renaissance's aging computers did.[36]

Disc Go Round edit

Disc Go Round bought and sold new and used compact discs (CDs).[2] In July 1994, Winmark spent $2.3 million to purchase CDX Audio, which used the name CD Exchange in Green Bay, Wisconsin. When Winmark purchased the company, it had 42 stores.[2][37] Winmark renamed the used CD store to Disc Go Round because they could not nationally trademark the name "CD Exchange".[38] The outlet had an electronic system that recorded all the CDs a store had so customers did not have to browse the shelves trying to determine whether a particular CD was present.[38] Disc Go Around also had "listening stations" for customers to listen to CDs.[38] Winmark sold Disc Go Round, which had increased to 137 stores, to CD Warehouse on June 26, 1998, for $7.4 million.[37]

It's About Games edit

It's About Games bought and sold used PC games, video games, and board games.[5] It was founded in Cleveland as Video Game Exchange in 1990 and grew to 83 stores by the end of 1994, but its excessive expansion resulted in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 1995 and the closure of half its stores.[39][40] Winmark spent roughly $6.8 million to acquire Video Game Exchange in 1997 and renamed it to It's About Games. It's About Games locations were largely in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Georgia and Maryland. It made money for Winmark until 1998. During its last year under Winmark management, It's About Games lost $3.4 million due to excessive inventory, a buggy computer system, poorly chosen products, and improperly trained employees. Winmark owned 60 of the 64 It's About Games stores in the franchise and would have been profitable without It's About Games. Winmark sold or closed all its It's About Games stores in 1999 to reduce losses. Winmark also aimed to cut down on the number of stores it owned because it wanted to focus on franchisee-owned stores.[41][42]

ReTool edit

ReTool bought and sold used tools. Winmark opened the first ReTool on November 10, 1999, in Chicago.[43] Roughly 65% of ReTool's goods were purchased from people, while the remainder was purchased from factories that produced too many tools or from closing businesses.[44] CEO John Morgan said in an October 2000 interview that many people did not sell tools they did not use so it was hard to accumulate used tools at ReTool.[36] Winmark sold ReTool around 2002.[14]

Subsidiaries edit

Wirth Business Credit edit

Wirth Business Credit is a small-business supplies leasing company owned by Winmark.[6][9] In a 2008 interview with the Star Tribune, CEO John Morgan said Winmark plowed the $9 million to $10 million in profit from its franchisees into Wirth Business Credit because they believed leasing supplies will become a profitable business even though the current growth had been slow.[10] In 2008, there were 27 Wirth Business Credit franchises.[10]

In 2004, Winmark created Winmark Business Solutions, a website for small businesses owners.[9] Winmark Business Solutions was intended to help franchisees and clients of Wirth Business Credit. The website hosted 6,000 pages related to business such as how to found a company and how to sell a company. It had a forum for people to discuss small business issues and its articles also discussed finance, insurance, and technology topics with a focus on business.[9]

References edit

  1. ^ a b Feuerbach, Lynn (1997-04-20). "Something Old Something New – Used merchandise chain finds success in Cedar Rapids". The Gazette. Archived from the original on 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k McCartney, Jim (1995-06-11). "Large-Scale Garage Sale//Grow Biz International, With Its Five Franchise Concepts That Push Used and New Merchandise, Is Still on a Massive and Much-Touted Growth Spurt. But Rapid Growth Has Come with its Share of Problems for the Golden Valley Firm". St. Paul Pioneer Press. Archived from the original on 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  3. ^ a b c d Bust, Will (2007-10-08). "Trio of Used-Product Franchises Flourish in the Metro-East". Belleville News-Democrat. Archived from the original on 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Walden, Gene (2009-02-02). "Used merchandise a hit for Winmark – Income for the Minneapolis owner of such franchise-based businesses as Music Go Round and Play It Again Sports is growing during recession". Star Tribune. Archived from the original on 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
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  43. ^ Peters, Jim (1999-11-11). "Company Launches Store That Sells Used Tools". The Herald-News. Archived from the original on 2016-09-06. Retrieved 2016-09-06.
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External links edit

  • Official website

April 17, 2024
winmark, corporation, american, franchisor, five, retail, businesses, that, specialize, buying, selling, used, goods, company, based, minneapolis, minnesota, founded, 1988, play, again, sports, franchise, corporation, olson, jeffrey, dahlberg, after, they, pur. Winmark Corporation is an American franchisor of five retail businesses that specialize in buying and selling used goods The company is based in Minneapolis Minnesota Winmark was founded in 1988 as Play It Again Sports Franchise Corporation by Ron Olson and Jeffrey Dahlberg after they purchased the Play It Again Sports franchise rights from Martha Morris They renamed the company to Grow Biz International Inc in June 1993 Grow Biz went public in August 1993 In 2000 John Morgan replaced Dahlberg as CEO and renamed the company to Winmark in 2001 Morgan rescued Winmark from the verge of bankruptcy by selling financially failing franchise concepts and stores and replacing the management team The company s strategy was to move from owning stores itself to having franchisees own all the stores Winmark CorporationWinmark Corporation s logoFormerlyPlay It Again Sports Franchise Corporation 1988 1993 Grow Biz International Inc 1993 2001 Winmark Corporation 2001 present Company typePublicTraded asNasdaq WINARussell 2000 ComponentFounded1988 36 years ago 1988 FoundersRon Olson and Jeffrey DahlbergHeadquartersMinneapolis MinnesotaKey peopleBrett Heffes CEO DivisionsMusic Go RoundOnce Upon a ChildPlato s ClosetPlay It Again SportsStyle EncoreSubsidiariesWirth Business CreditWebsitewinmarkcorporation wbr comWinmark Corporation owns five franchise based retail companies that focus on used goods Music Go Round musical instruments Once Upon a Child children s clothes and toys Plato s Closet adolescent and young adult clothes Play It Again Sports sports equipment and Style Encore women s clothing Winmark also owned but subsequently sold four franchise based retailed companies Computer Renaissance computer equipment Disc Go Round CDs It s About Game computer games and video games and ReTool tools Its subsidiary Wirth Business Credit is a small business supplies leasing company Around 2013 research company IBISWorld reported that in the used goods outlet market Goodwill Industries was first with a 21 5 share Winmark was second with nearly 6 and The Salvation Army was third with nearly 4 In 2016 Winmark had a 1 billion market share in the 17 billion resell industry through its 1 170 franchisees Contents 1 History 2 Franchises 2 1 Current franchises 2 1 1 Music Go Round 2 1 2 Once Upon a Child 2 1 3 Plato s Closet 2 1 4 Play It Again Sports 2 1 5 Style Encore 2 2 Former franchises 2 2 1 Computer Renaissance 2 2 2 Disc Go Round 2 2 3 It s About Games 2 2 4 ReTool 3 Subsidiaries 3 1 Wirth Business Credit 4 References 5 External linksHistory editRon Olson and Jeffrey Dahlberg started a consulting firm Franchise Business Systems 1 in 1986 2 Olson had been the president of R J Brandon Galleries and Dahlberg had been the chief executive officer of his father Kenneth H Dahlberg s company Dahlberg Inc now Miracle Ear 2 Martha Morris was an initial customer of Olson and Dahlberg s consulting company 2 Morris who started Play It Again Sports in 1983 in Uptown Minneapolis had purchased camping and backpacking supplies found out she was not interested in camping and decided to sell her used goods 2 3 She had attempted to sell a costly lightly used backpack through making ads and visiting a sports shop where an employee told her We don t sell used equipment Morris decided to start her own store since she believed other people might have used sports equipment they would like to sell 1 Morris expressed a desire to make her idea a franchise Although Olson and Dahlberg were first concerned about the idea s outlook for success their worries disappeared after they dropped by her outlet a Saturday morning and found a line of 10 customers before Morris store had even opened 2 Their strategy to captivate franchisees was to add urbanity to something they called a garage sale looking environment but not harm the initial idea 2 Olson and Dahlberg quickly realized they preferred to be the owners of a company instead of be advisers Morris sold her Play It Again Sports franchise rights to Olson and Dahlberg in 1988 She sold her stores to them in 1990 2 Play It Again Sports became Winmark s first division 3 The company was incorporated as Play It Again Sports Franchise Corporation in 1988 3 and was renamed to Grow Biz International Inc in June 1993 2 It went public in August 1993 2 4 The company was listed on NASDAQ as GBIZ 5 it is now listed on NASDAQ as WINA 6 In 1995 a significant number of the company s franchises were on Entrepreneur s annual Franchise 500 list 3 In 2001 Grow Biz was renamed to Winmark Corporation 7 8 Winmark Corporation is based in Minneapolis Minnesota 9 In March 2000 John Morgan took over as CEO from Jeff Dahlberg 7 By a year after joining the company as CEO Morgan rescued Winmark from the precipice of bankruptcy by introducing stringent review of franchisee finances shuttering failing Play It Again Sports stores and appointing his own people to executive and board positions 10 Morgan chose Steve Briggs who had been at Valspar as the company s president He selected as board members Kirk MacKenzie whom he had worked with at Winthrop Resources and Paul Reyelts the chief financial officer at Valspar 11 In June 2000 Winmark sold its corporate headquarters building to Koch Trucking 12 The company had lost 350 700 in 2000 in 2001 it had a net income of 3 2 million 13 Morgan said in a 2009 interview with the Star Tribune about the state of Winmark before he joined The company was very good at selling franchises but it was still losing money 4 Around 2002 Winmark sold the franchises Retool Computer Renaissance and Disc Go Round 14 In 2011 Winmark was ranked the 11th company on Forbes s The Top 20 Small Public Companies In America 15 Around 2013 research company IBISWorld found that in the used goods outlet market Goodwill Industries was first with a 21 5 share Winmark was second with nearly 6 and The Salvation Army was third with nearly 4 16 In 2016 the company had a 1 billion market share in the 17 billion resell industry through its 1 170 franchisees 17 In February 2016 President Brett Heffes was chosen as Winmark s next CEO succeeding John Morgan who became the executive chairman 18 According to a 2014 article in The Toronto Star Morgan holds the most shares in the company 19 Franchises editWinmark Corporation owns five franchise based retail companies that focus on used goods Music Go Round musical instruments Once Upon a Child children s clothes and toys Plato s Closet adolescent and young adult clothes Play It Again Sports sports equipment and Style Encore women s clothing 20 21 Winmark sold four franchise based retailed companies Computer Renaissance computer equipment Disc Go Round CDs It s About Game computer games and video games and ReTool tools The cost to become a franchisee in 2009 was 25 000 and five percent of the franchisee s gross revenue 4 Franchisees further are required to pay Winmark for advertising and miscellaneous assistance 19 Although Winmark s contract with franchisees does not allot them territories the contract ensures that any rival outlets must be located five or more miles away 22 Despite Winmark s specializing in used goods its stores sell new goods too 4 Through its many stores Winmark uses its buying power to negotiate competitive prices for the stores new goods 23 It also teaches franchisees about the used goods industry and offers pricing software to establish standards for the used goods they purchase 23 Between 2006 and 2010 Winmark started around 50 stores annually 24 In 2013 Winmark had over 1 000 franchised stores none of which it owned that in total had sales of over 900 million 7 Current franchises edit Music Go Round edit Music Go Round purchases sells and exchanges used musical instruments and paraphernalia 25 Founded as Hi Tech Consignments in Minneapolis by Bill Shell in 1986 Winmark purchased it in 1993 and renamed it to Music Go Round 5 26 In 2009 roughly 30 of Music Go Round s musical instruments purchased were new 4 In 2011 it had 35 locations in the United States 25 In 2010 the complete cost to start a Music Go Round was 300 000 and the average yearly sales were between 650 000 and 725 000 24 Once Upon a Child edit Once Upon a Child purchases and sells used children s attire and toys 25 The first Once Upon a Child store was opened in 1985 in Perrysburg Ohio by Dennis and Lynn Blum in 1985 after they observed Goodwill Industries accepting and selling used baby attire 27 Prior to opening a store Lynn Blum had been selling her three sons and friends and neighbors clothing in a garage sale from her house every week Her husband resigned from his employment in 1989 to work with Lynn 28 Winmark purchased the company in 1992 In 2009 roughly 10 of Once Upon a Child s children s attire and playthings purchased were new 4 In 2011 it had 240 locations in the United States and 24 in Canada 25 In 2010 the complete cost to start a Once Upon a Child was between 200 000 and 250 000 and the average yearly sales were between 650 000 and 725 000 24 Plato s Closet edit Plato s Closet purchases and sells used brand name teenager and young adult clothing shoes and paraphernalia 25 It focuses on clothes for people ages 12 to 24 29 30 Winmark purchased Plato s Closet from Dennis and Lynn Blum the founders of Once Upon a Child in 1998 27 31 The store s name was inspired by a Blum son s schoolwork about Plato who had been an early advocate of recycling which paralleled the aim to recycle used clothes 27 31 In 2011 there were over 280 franchisees in the United States and Canada 25 In 2010 the complete cost to start a Plato s Closet was between 200 000 and 250 000 and the average yearly sales were 825 000 24 A 2001 article in the Star Tribune noted that Plato s Closet in 2001 stocked up on brand names such as Abercrombie amp Fitch Gap Inc Silver Jeans Co Sean John Express Inc and Dr Martens that they sold at a markdown of between 50 and 75 14 Unlike consignment shops Plato s Closet pays sellers on the spot 14 Used clothes are purchased at between 30 and 40 of what Plato s Closet intends to sell them at 29 In a 2009 interview with Star Tribune CEO John Morgan said Plato s Closet did the best during the Great Recession among Winmark s franchises because people were more likely to sell used clothing to make money and to buy used clothing to save money 4 Play It Again Sports edit Main article Play It Again Sports Play It Again Sports purchases and sells used sports goods and is Winmark s largest chain 4 25 Roughly 70 of Play It Again Sports sports equipment is new 4 In 2011 it had over 330 locations in the United States and Canada 25 In 2010 the complete cost to start a Play It Again Sports was 300 000 and the average yearly sales were between 650 000 and 725 000 24 Style Encore edit Style Encore buys and sells used women s clothing In January 2013 Winmark announced that it would start a new franchise Style Encore that would focus on used women s clothing The first store opened in Texas in August 2013 21 Style Encore immediately pays cash to people looking to sell used women s attire footwear handbags and jewelry 32 Former franchises edit Computer Renaissance edit Computer Renaissance bought and sold new and used computer supplies such as computers computer memory computer monitors and printers 33 The store also sold computer games and books and helped customers build custom computers 34 Computer Renaissance was started in 1993 35 On July 7 2000 Winmark sold Computer Renaissance which had 209 stores to Jack Hollis Hollis Technologies LLC in Lakeland Florida for 3 million Hollis had been a Computer Renaissance franchisee 12 CEO John Morgan said that whereas Music Go Round s used musical equipment did not depreciate Computer Renaissance s aging computers did 36 Disc Go Round edit Disc Go Round bought and sold new and used compact discs CDs 2 In July 1994 Winmark spent 2 3 million to purchase CDX Audio which used the name CD Exchange in Green Bay Wisconsin When Winmark purchased the company it had 42 stores 2 37 Winmark renamed the used CD store to Disc Go Round because they could not nationally trademark the name CD Exchange 38 The outlet had an electronic system that recorded all the CDs a store had so customers did not have to browse the shelves trying to determine whether a particular CD was present 38 Disc Go Around also had listening stations for customers to listen to CDs 38 Winmark sold Disc Go Round which had increased to 137 stores to CD Warehouse on June 26 1998 for 7 4 million 37 It s About Games edit It s About Games bought and sold used PC games video games and board games 5 It was founded in Cleveland as Video Game Exchange in 1990 and grew to 83 stores by the end of 1994 but its excessive expansion resulted in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy in February 1995 and the closure of half its stores 39 40 Winmark spent roughly 6 8 million to acquire Video Game Exchange in 1997 and renamed it to It s About Games It s About Games locations were largely in Ohio Pennsylvania Kentucky Georgia and Maryland It made money for Winmark until 1998 During its last year under Winmark management It s About Games lost 3 4 million due to excessive inventory a buggy computer system poorly chosen products and improperly trained employees Winmark owned 60 of the 64 It s About Games stores in the franchise and would have been profitable without It s About Games Winmark sold or closed all its It s About Games stores in 1999 to reduce losses Winmark also aimed to cut down on the number of stores it owned because it wanted to focus on franchisee owned stores 41 42 ReTool edit ReTool bought and sold used tools Winmark opened the first ReTool on November 10 1999 in Chicago 43 Roughly 65 of ReTool s goods were purchased from people while the remainder was purchased from factories that produced too many tools or from closing businesses 44 CEO John Morgan said in an October 2000 interview that many people did not sell tools they did not use so it was hard to accumulate used tools at ReTool 36 Winmark sold ReTool around 2002 14 Subsidiaries editWirth Business Credit edit Wirth Business Credit is a small business supplies leasing company owned by Winmark 6 9 In a 2008 interview with the Star Tribune CEO John Morgan said Winmark plowed the 9 million to 10 million in profit from its franchisees into Wirth Business Credit because they believed leasing supplies will become a profitable business even though the current growth had been slow 10 In 2008 there were 27 Wirth Business Credit franchises 10 In 2004 Winmark created Winmark Business Solutions a website for small businesses owners 9 Winmark Business Solutions was intended to help franchisees and clients of Wirth Business Credit The website hosted 6 000 pages related to business such as how to found a company and how to sell a company It had a forum for people to discuss small business issues and its articles also discussed finance insurance and technology topics with a focus on business 9 References edit a b Feuerbach Lynn 1997 04 20 Something Old Something New Used merchandise chain finds success in Cedar Rapids The Gazette Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c d e f g h i j k McCartney Jim 1995 06 11 Large Scale Garage Sale Grow Biz International With Its Five Franchise Concepts That Push Used and New Merchandise Is Still on a Massive and Much Touted Growth Spurt But Rapid Growth Has Come with its Share of Problems for the Golden Valley Firm St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c d Bust Will 2007 10 08 Trio of Used Product Franchises Flourish in the Metro East Belleville News Democrat Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c d e f g h i Walden Gene 2009 02 02 Used merchandise a hit for Winmark Income for the Minneapolis owner of such franchise based businesses as Music Go Round and Play It Again Sports is growing during recession Star Tribune Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c Campbell Genie 1997 08 10 Previously Played and Profitable Business is Brisk at Used Instrument Store in Madison Wisconsin State Journal Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Pesquera Adolfo 2006 12 20 Credit where credit is due San Antonio Express News Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c Wehrwein Sven 2013 10 04 Candid Winmark leader John Morgan has no filter MinnPost Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Okon Bob 2006 05 28 Play It Again Sports again The Herald News Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c d Nelson Todd 2009 11 06 Like a business adviser on your desktop Website wbsonline com is free now but owner Winmark hopes to turn a profit with it eventually Star Tribune Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c Crosby Jackie 2008 08 03 Heard on the prairie The secondhand store company looks to equipping offices for increased success Star Tribune Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 St Anthony Neal 2004 04 10 Once again Morgan delivers the goods Under his control Winmark posts record earnings Star Tribune Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Moore Janet 2000 07 08 For 3 million Grow Biz sells Computer Renaissance concept Star Tribune Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Daniel Fran 2002 08 21 No Stopping Them Couple Continue to Reuse the Idea of Opening Recycled Clothes Stores Winston Salem Journal Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c d Ewoldt John 2002 08 08 Dollars amp Sense Frugal Fashions At Plato s Closet everything from Abercrombie to Zumiez sells for a fraction of retail Just don t tell teens it s used Star Tribune Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Radford Bill 2012 03 16 Wave of resale consignment shops pops up in Springs The Gazette Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Valverde Miriam 2013 04 04 Plato s Closet opens in Fort Lauderdale selling and buying trendy apparel Sun Sentinel Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 O Connell Jon 2016 08 07 Reselling goods is big business in U S The Scranton Times Tribune Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Reyes Robin 2016 02 25 Winmark Names President Brett Heffes as New CEO Succeeding John Morgan Sonoran Weekly Review Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Kopun Francine 2014 03 14 Can selling second hand clothes be profitable Toronto Star Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Smith Kevin 2013 01 24 Winmark to open resale stores in the San Gabriel Valley Pasadena Star News Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Webb Tom 2014 05 28 Eagan s Style Encore offers curtain call for used clothing St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Nelson Jonathan 2008 04 17 Very picky Plato s The Columbian Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Okon Bob 2003 04 27 Bursting at the seams Store Once Upon a Child moving to new location The Herald News Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c d e Nixon Alex 2010 08 27 Franchise opportunities open with Winmark Kalamazoo Gazette Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c d e f g h Hughes Christopher J 2011 05 08 Winmark branches out Times Leader Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 McCartney Jim 1998 09 23 Playing a New Tune A Strong Economy Has Made Franchising a Less Popular Business Option Franchisor Music Go Round is Adjusting to that Reality by Operating More Corporately Owned Stores St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c Nevius C W 2005 06 10 Dublin Plato s Closet resells in clothes before they are out San Francisco Chronicle Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Yeomans Michael 2002 07 10 Some new clothing chains happy to take the shirt off your back Pittsburgh Tribune Review Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Maben Scott 2009 08 07 New Plato s Closet coming The Spokesman Review Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Wells Devona 2005 10 06 Retailer s resales hit Inland area The Press Enterprise Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Verdon Joan 2003 10 31 Store turns used teen clothes into gold The Record Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Neyens Deborah 2016 02 08 Ground Floor Cedar Rapids couple finds retail resale to be good fit Style Encore buys sells women s apparel The Gazette Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Hostetter George 1997 10 21 Used Computer Chain Opens Clovis Outlet Computer Renaissance Opens First Valley Store in Clovis The Fresno Bee Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Hunt Mary Beth 1996 06 14 Selling high tech without high price Tampa Bay Times Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Chang Ellen Y 1996 07 08 Store Will Buy Sell Used PCs Franchiser Will Open in City July 23 The Journal Gazette Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Maler Kevin 2000 10 22 C H Robinson Worldwide s Stock Stays on the Move Should Continue to Grow St Paul Pioneer Press Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b Hogan Gypsy 1998 06 18 CD Warehouse Makes Acquisition The Oklahoman Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 a b c Ford George C 1994 10 23 Men make sound investment selling used CDs The Gazette Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Grow Biz to buy video game retailer The Marion Star July 8 1997 p 18 Retrieved March 6 2022 via Newspapers com Levy Melissa August 5 1997 Computer Renaissance gives new life to used computers Star Tribune p 28 Retrieved March 6 2022 via Newspapers com Moore Janet October 15 1999 Grow Biz to sell games chain Star Tribune p 49 Retrieved March 6 2022 via Newspapers com Moore Janet October 15 1999 Series of mistakes led chain to have abysmal Christmas Star Tribune p 56 Retrieved March 6 2022 via Newspapers com Peters Jim 1999 11 11 Company Launches Store That Sells Used Tools The Herald News Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 Bond Pati 1999 11 19 Tool recycle franchise a boon for the handy The Atlanta Journal Constitution Archived from the original on 2016 09 06 Retrieved 2016 09 06 External links editOfficial websitePortals nbsp Companies nbsp United States Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Winmark amp oldid 1181753654, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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