Minneapolis — Winmark Corporation, North America’s leading franchisor of sustainable resale brands Once Upon A Child®, Plato’s Closet®, Play It Again Sports®, Music Go Round® and Style Encore®, continues to lead the resale industry. In 2021, its franchise locations extended the life of 158 million items, and Winmark expanded its available territories to over 2,800 across all five of its brands throughout the U.S. and Canada. Winmark – the Resale Company® closes out the year with 46 awarded franchises and has its eyes set on aggressive franchise development leading into 2022.
While the past 2 years have been challenging for many retail brands, Winmark’s resale brands defied the odds and grew to meet the increasing demand for quality used, secondhand products. In fact, since 2010, Winmark brands have recycled over 1.3 billion items. Additionally, Once Upon A Child opened its 400th location in September 2021 in Douglasville, Ga.
“The future of the resale industry remains strong and promising,” says Renae Gaudette, president of franchising at Winmark Corporation. “As we continue to grow, our impact will only strengthen as we aim to further our position as the industry leader in resale and sustainability. Our goal is to find more franchise partners to fill those 2,800+ territories so that every community has the opportunity to benefit from our brands, and similarly those franchisees are awarded the opportunity to be part of a successful network of sustainable resale brands.”
As of December 25, 2021, there were 1,271 Winmark franchises in operation and over 2,800 available territories. An additional 46 franchises have been awarded but are not open. For more information, visit winmarkfranchises.com.
To read Retail & Restaurant Facility Business magazine’s recent cover story on Winmark, click here.
SOURCE: Winmark Corporation