Winmark Corporation is an American franchisor of five retail businesses specializing 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 changed the name of 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 rescues Winmark from the brink of bankruptcy by selling financially failed concepts and franchise stores and replacing teams management. The company's strategy is to shift from having the store itself to become a franchisor owning all the stores.
Winmark Corporation has five franchise-based retailers that focus on used goods: Music Go Round (musical instrument), Once Upon a Child (children's clothing and toys), Plato's Closet (teen and teen clothing), Play It Again Sports ( sports equipment), and Encore Style (women's clothing). Winmark also owned but later sold four franchise-based retailing companies: Renaissance Computers (computer equipment), Disc Go Round (CD), It's About Game (computer games and video games), and ReTool (tools). Its subsidiary Wirth Business Credit is a small business equipment rental company.
Around 2013, the IBISWorld research firm reported that in second-hand goods outlets, Goodwill Industries was the first with 21.5% share, Winmark came in second with nearly 6%, and The Salvation Army was third with nearly 4%. By 2016, Winmark has a $ 1 billion market share in the $ 17 billion resale industry through 1,170 franchises.
Video Winmark
History
Ron Olson and Jeffrey Dahlberg started a consulting firm, Franchise Business Systems, in 1986. Olson was president of R.J. Brandon and Dahlberg galleries became chief executives of his father's company, Kenneth H. Dahlberg, Dahlberg Inc. (now Miracle-Ear). Martha Morris is an early customer of consulting firms Olson and Dahlberg. Morris, who started Play It Again Sports in 1983 in Uptown, Minneapolis, had purchased camping and backpacking supplies, learned that he was not interested in camping, and decided to sell his used goods. He had tried to sell an expensive, lightweight backpack used through advertising and visited a sports shop, where an employee told him, "We do not sell used equipment." Morris decided to start his own shop because he believes others might have used the sports equipment they wanted to sell.
Morris expressed a desire to make the idea of ​​a franchise. Although Olson and Dahlberg were first concerned about the prospect of the idea for success, their worries disappeared after they stopped at his outlet Saturday morning and found a line of 10 customers before the Morris store even opened. Their strategy to lure franchisees is to add urbanity to something they call "a garage-like environment" but not to spoil the original idea. Olson and Dahlberg quickly realized that they preferred to be company owners rather than to be advisers. Morris sold the Play It Again Sports franchise to Olson and Dahlberg in 1988. He sold the store to them in 1990. Play It Again Sports became Winmark's first division.
The company was founded as Play It Again Sports Franchise Corporation in 1988 and renamed to Grow Biz International Inc. in June 1993. The company became public in August 1993. The company is listed on NASDAQ as GBIZ; now listed on NASDAQ as WINA. In 1995, a large number of the company's franchises were on the annual "Franchise 500" Entrepreneurship ' list. In 2001, Grow Biz was renamed to Winmark Corporation. Winmark Corporation is based in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In March 2000, John Morgan took over the position of CEO of Jeff Dahlberg. A year after joining the company as CEO, Morgan rescued Winmark from the bankruptcy cliff by introducing a rigorous review of franchise finances, closing down Play It Again Sports stores, and appointing his own people to executive positions and councils. Morgan chose Steve Briggs, who was at Valspar, as president of the company. He was elected board member Kirk MacKenzie, who worked with him at Winthrop Resources, and Paul Reyelts, chief financial officer at Valspar. In June 2000, Winmark sold its corporate headquarters to Koch Trucking. The company lost $ 350,700 in 2000; in 2001, it had a net income of $ 3.2 million. Morgan said in a 2009 interview with Star Tribune about the state of Winmark before he joined, "The company is very good at selling franchises, but still losing money." Around 2002, Winmark sold Retool franchises, Renaissance Computers and Disc-Go-Round.
In 2011, Winmark was ranked 11th among the companies in
In February 2016, President Brett Heffes was elected to the next CEO of Winmark, replacing John Morgan, who is chief executive. According to a 2014 article on The Toronto Star , Morgan holds the most shares in the company.
Maps Winmark
Franchise
Winmark Corporation has five franchise-based retailers that focus on used goods: Music Go Round (musical instrument), Once Upon a Child (children's clothing and toys), Plato's Closet (teen and teen clothing), Play It Again Sports ( sports equipment), and Encore Style (women's clothing). Winmark sells four franchise-based retailing companies: Renaissance Computer (computer equipment), Disc Go Round (CD), It's About Game (computer games and video games), and ReTool (tools).
The cost to become a franchisee in 2009 is $ 25,000 and five percent of the gross income of the franchisee. The franchise party is subsequently required to pay Winmark for advertising and other assistance. Although the Winmark contract with the franchisee does not provide them territory, the contract ensures that every competitor's outlet must be located five miles or so away.
Although Winmark specializes in used goods, the store also sells new items. Through many of its stores, Winmark uses its purchasing power to negotiate competitive pricing for new store items. It also teaches franchisees about the junk industry and offers pricing software to set standards for used goods they buy.
Between 2006 and 2010, Winmark started about 50 stores each year. In 2013, Winmark has more than 1,000 franchised stores - none owned - that total sales of more than $ 900 million.
Current franchise
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Go Round music buys, sells, and exchanges using musical instruments and knick-knacks. Founded as Hi-Tech Consignments in Minneapolis by Bill Shell in 1986, Winmark bought it in 1993 and renamed it Music Go Round. In 2009, about 30% of the purchased Music Go Round instruments were new. In 2011, it has 35 locations in the United States. In 2010, the complete cost to start Music Go Round is $ 300,000 and average annual sales are between $ 650,000 and $ 725,000.
Once Upon a Child
Once Upon a Child buys and sells used children's clothing and toys. The first Once Upon a Child store opened in 1985 in Perrysburg, Ohio, by Dennis and Lynn Blum in 1985 after they observed Goodwill Industries receiving and selling baby clothes. Before opening the shop, Judy Blum sold the clothes of her three sons and friends and her neighbor's clothes in the garage sale from her home every week. Her husband resigned from her job in 1989 to work with Judy. Winmark purchased the company in 1992. In 2009, about 10% of children's clothes and toys Once Upon a Child were bought new. In 2011, it has 240 locations in the United States and 24 in Canada. In 2010, the complete cost to start Once Upon a Child is between $ 200,000 and $ 250,000 and an average annual sale of between $ 650,000 and $ 725,000.
Closet Plato
Plato's Closet buys and sells the brand name of children's and teen's used clothing, shoes and knick-knacks. It focuses on clothing for people ages 12 to 24. Winmark bought Plato's Closet from Dennis and Lynn Blum, founder of Once Upon a Child, in 1998. The store's name was inspired by Blum's children's school of Plato who has been an early advocate of recycling , which is parallel to the purpose of recycling used clothing. In 2011, there were more than 280 franchisees in the United States and Canada. In 2010, the complete cost for starting Plato's Closet is between $ 200,000 and $ 250,000 and the average annual sale is $ 825,000.
A 2001 article in Star Tribune notes that Plato's Closet in 2001 was hoarded on brand names like Abercrombie & amp; Fitch, Gap Inc., Silver Jeans Co., Sean John, Express, Inc., and Dr. Martens are sold at a price reduction of between 50% and 75%. Unlike the consignment shop, Plato's Closet pays the seller on the spot. Used clothing is bought between 30% and 40% of what Plato's Closet wants to sell. According to a 2002 article in Winston-Salem Journal Winmark spent about $ 67,000 on each television ad for Plato's Closet. In a 2009 interview with Star Tribune, CEO John Morgan said Closet Plato did his best during the Great Recession among the Winmark franchises because people are more likely to sell used clothes to make money and buy used clothes to save money. money.
Play More Sports
Play It Again Sports buy and sell used sports goods and is the largest chain of Winmark. Approximately 70% of Play It Again Sports sports equipment is new. In 2011, it has over 330 locations in the United States and Canada. In 2010, the full cost to start Play It Again Sports is $ 300,000 and the average annual sales are between $ 650,000 and $ 725,000.
Encore Style
Encore Style buy and sell used ladies clothes. In January 2013, Winmark announces it will start a new franchise, Style Encore, which will focus on the women's outfits used. The first store opened in Texas in August 2013. Style Encore immediately pays cash to people who want to sell women's clothing, footwear, handbags, and women's jewelry.
Former franchise
Renaissance Computers
Renaissance computers buy and sell new and used computer equipment such as computers, computer memory, computer monitors, and printers. The store also sells computer games and books and helps customers build custom computers. The Renaissance computer began in 2000. On July 7, 2000, Winmark sold the Renaissance Computer, which has 209 stores, to Hollis Technologies Hollis Hollis LLC in Lakeland, Florida, for $ 3 million. Hollis is a Renaissance Computer franchisee. CEO John Morgan said that while the music equipment used by Music Go Round did not depreciate, the Renaissance computer of Computers did it.
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Disc Go Round buys and sells new and used compact discs (CDs). In July 1994, Winmark spent $ 2.3 million on CDX Audio, which uses the CD Exchange name in Green Bay, Wisconsin. When Winmark bought the company, it had 42 stores. Winmark renames the CD store used to be Disc Go Round because they can not name nationally the name "CD Exchange". The outlet has an electronic system that records all store-owned CDs so customers do not have to browse through shelves trying to determine if there is a particular CD. Disc Go Around also has a "listening station" for subscribers to listen to CDs. Winmark sold Disc Go Round, which had risen to 137 stores, to the Warehouse CD on June 26, 1998, for $ 7.4 million.
It's About Game
It's About Games is bought and sold using PC games, video games, and board games. Winmark spent about $ 6.8 million to acquire Video Game Exchange Inc. in 1997 and renamed it It's About Games. Location About Game mostly in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Georgia, and Maryland. This earned money for Winmark until 1998. During the last year under Winmark's management, It's About Games lost $ 3.4 million due to excess inventory, train computer systems, less-selected products, and less-trained employees. Winmark has 60 of 64 It's About Games stores in the franchise and will be profitable without It's About Games. Winmark sold or closed all It's About Games stores in 1999 to reduce losses. Winmark also aims to reduce the number of stores it has because it wants to focus on franchisee-owned stores.
ReTool
ReTool buys and sells the tools used. Winmark opened ReTool first on November 10, 1999, in Chicago. Approximately 65% ​​of ReTool's goods are purchased from people, while the rest are purchased from factories that produce too much equipment or from business closures. CEO John Morgan said in an October 2000 interview that many people did not sell tools they did not use so it was difficult to collect the tools used in ReTool. Winmark sold ReTool around 2002.
Subsidiaries
Wirth Business Credit
Wirth Business Credit is a small business rental company owned by Winmark. In a 2008 interview with Star Tribune CEO John Morgan said Winmark hijacked $ 9 million to $ 10 million in profits from the franchise into Wirth Business Credit because they believed that renting inventories would be a profitable business despite growth it is very slow. In 2008, there were 27 Wirth Business Credit franchises.
In 2004, Winmark created Winmark Business Solutions, a website for small business owners. Business Solutions Winmark is intended to help franchisees and clients of Wirth Business Credit. The website hosts 6,000 business-related pages such as how to find a company and how to sell a company. It has a forum for people to discuss small business issues and the article also discusses financial, insurance, and technology topics with a focus on business.
References
External links
- Official website
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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