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New Report Shows Why Owning a Resale Clothing Franchise is Smart Business

The concept of shopping for clothing continues to evolve rapidly and resale is at the center of the evolution. Nowhere is this more evident than within thredUP’s recently-released 6th Annual (2018) Resale Report. “There is a powerful transformation of the modern closet happening and resale is a key driver,” proclaims Co-Founder and CEO James Reinhart.

While transformations are fun to watch, it is more exciting to participate in and profit from them. Owning a resale clothing franchise is a great way to participate in (and profit from) the compelling transformation in retail.

Here are five great reasons to own a resale clothing franchise — supported by findings within the thredUP report:

1)  PARTICIPATE IN AN EMERGING LIFESTYLE

Consumers love deep discounts more than ever, and the hunt for a bargain and a great variety of products to choose from. Of all retail categories, this is most relevant in apparel — particularly upscale resale. thredUP surveyed 2,000 women in early 2018 and found that 71 percent plan to spend more on resale shopping over the next five years. Ironically (or not) this is equivalent to the number who plan to spend less time in traditional department stores. Resale exposes consumers to brands they might never have come across before or might never have been able to afford. It also provides an unparalleled thrill of the hunt and shoppers love it. The old notions of dark, musty and dusty secondhand stores are in the past.  Consumers of all generations are beginning to enthusiastically embrace resale and starting to live it  consciously making purchase and sale decisions within this new paradigm. NTY Franchise Company is uniquely positioned to help entrepreneurs participate in this emerging lifestyle.


2)  PROFIT FROM TREMENDOUS INDUSTRY GROWTH

Resale is growing exponentially faster than any other retail category and is expected to reach $41B by 2022 from $20B currently — with apparel by far the largest component. Resale is going mainstream and there is not much that will stop it. According to thredUP, 44 million women shopped secondhand in 2017 versus 35 million in 2016 — a stunning 26 percent increase. One in three women shopped secondhand in 2017 alone; while the percentage of used items in thrifters’ closets is projected to grow to 40 percent by 2022 from 24 percent 2017 (which more than doubled from 11 percent in 2012). Most notably, resale shoppers plan to buy two times the amount of used clothing over the next five years than they currently do. There are not many industries with this momentum and growth trajectory. Owning a high-return resale clothing franchise such as Clothes Mentor is a great way to profit from it.

3)  RIDE THE GREEN REVOLUTION

“Fashion is the second-most polluting industry in the world” Emily Farra, Editor of VOGUE, preached in a widely publicized article in October 2017. This reality has been compounded by fast-fashion where styles are rushed to market with little regard for the environment and how short the item’s lifespan will be. thredUP notes that if every garment was given a second life — retail industry waste, emissions and water usage would be reduced by 73 percent. Top designers are becoming increasingly aware of implications of the rampant Throw-Away Culture. They are evolving more toward Circular and Sustainable fashion, where clothing is built to last much longer so it’s able to easily have a lifespan beyond one individual. Similarly, individuals are now embracing this concept and are increasingly motivated to recycle their clothes and purchase secondhand clothing themselves. Owning a resale clothing franchise — like highly successful NTY Franchise Company brands such as Clothes Mentor, Children’s Orchard and NTY Clothing Exchange — is a great way to ride the green revolution that is gaining momentum and here to stay.

4)  CAPTURE THE MILLENNIAL MOVEMENT

Everyone loves to comment on the millennial generation and their often complex ideologies. “They are wasteful… but hate to waste,” jests thredUP in discussing millennials’ complicated shopping habits. The report details how 18- to 24-year-olds are the most impulsive shoppers (and the most likely to discard an item after 1 – 5 wearings). At the same time, the large majority of millennials prefer to buy environmentally-conscious brands; 40 percent shopped resale during 2017, and 35 percent are likely to switch to thrift to go green (versus the average consumer at 27 percent). Millennials are often difficult to reach, but upscale resale is reaching them, and their embracement of this lifestyle will be passed down to their children as they are brought up within it. Owning a resale clothing franchise like NTY Clothing Exchange — with a primary target demographic of teenagers and young adults — is a great way to capture the millennial movement.

5)  LEVERAGE PROVEN BUSINESS MODELS

Opening a retail business has traditionally been a daunting task — particularly for early entrants in resale. Luckily those days are over, and now entrepreneurs can leverage time-tested, high-return, proven business models developed by a seasoned industry veteran like NTY Franchise Company.

NTY Franchise Company specializes in working with entrepreneurs at every stage of establishing one of several national resale clothing franchise brands. These stages include: Research & Discovery; Business Planning; Store Location & Leasing; Financing; Design & Build-out; Point of Service Software & Systems; Coaching & Managing; and Marketing.

At the center of NTY Franchise Company’s successful business models are its relentless focus on 1) Bright, clean and fresh-aired stores; 2) Smart store layouts; 3) State-of-the-art inventory managing, pricing and point of sale cloud-based software systems; and 4) a firm grasp on all the “big data” needed to make wise purchase and sell decisions throughout the day — every day. While all of this sounds fairly obvious, it takes decades of experience to actually put the strategies, systems and discipline in place to truly be effective (and deploy it) at scale. NTY Franchise Company has this experience and discipline — and the high returns from their average franchise units prove it.

ABOUT NTY FRANCHISE COMPANY

Founded in 2006 and located in Minnetonka, Minnesota, NTY Franchise Company is a pioneering and highly-experienced force in the rapidly growing category of upscale resale. It is the umbrella organization for three proven national resale clothing franchise brands: Children’s Orchard (kids clothing franchise); Clothes Mentor (women’s designer clothing franchise); and NTY Clothing Exchange (teens and young adults clothing franchise). NTY also has two other successful national franchise concepts: New Uses (household furniture, décor, appliances franchise) and Device Pitstop (electronics repair and resale franchise.

To learn more about NTY Franchise Company — and the lucrative opportunities in upscale resale franchising — explore our main page or feel free to just give us a call (952)-923-1223.

Ronald G. Olson

President

Ron Olson has been President and a Director of NTY Franchise Company since October 2006. Ron’s background included starting his career at Dayton’s Department Store, where he held many management positions. In 1977 he opened his own furniture store in Minnesota, which was a Drexel Heritage prototype store. In 1988 he co-founded Grow Biz International, now called Winmark. The first franchise rights that Olson purchased and started marketing was Play It Again Sports. Olson continued buying the Franchise rights for Once Upon A Child, Plato’s Closet, and Music Go Round. Today there over 1,000 Franchise locations.

Under NTY Franchise Company, the franchise rights were bought for Clothes Mentor and New Uses. In 2013 Olson bought Laptop Exchange and changed the name to Device Pitstop. In 2014 the company opened NTY Clothing Exchange and NTY Kids, now Children’s Orchard. There are currently 204 stores sold and 133 stores opened under the NTY Franchise umbrella.

Chad Olson

Chief Operations Officer

Chad Olson has been Chief Operations Officer of NTY Franchise Company since January 2007. From May 1994 to December 2006, he held various positions for Winmark Corporation (f/k/a Grow Biz International, Inc.), including Field Operations Manager for the Once Upon a Child concept from 1999 to 2002, and Regional Operations Manager for the Plato’s Closet concept from 2002 to 2006.

Sarah Primmer

Vice President of Finance & Human Resources

Sarah Primmer is the Vice President of Finance and Human Resources for NTY Franchise Company. She joined the company in January 2014. Prior to joining NTY, Sarah spent over 25 years as the controller and business manager of a local sales and marketing firm calling on Target stores.

Michael D. Smith

Vice President of Strategic Planning

Michael D. Smith has held numerous roles with NTY Franchise since 2010. He is currently the Vice President of Franchise Development and Strategic Planning. From December 2000 to July 2010, Michael held the position of Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder of the franchise company Laptop Xchange. From June 1994 to December 2000, Michael held numerous roles within the Grow Biz International brands of Play It Again Sports and Computer Renaissance. These roles included Corporate Store Management, Field Operation Specialist, and Franchisee.

Jenny Mann

Vice President of Operations | Executive Director of IT

Jenny Mann is the Senior Vice President Clothes Mentor and Children’s Orchard. In February of 2024, Jenny took on her current role overseeing IT, Marketing and the e-commerce platforms for both brands. Prior to this, Jenny was the Director of Marketing for NTY Franchise Company since January 2013. Jenny started with the NTY Franchise Company in 2008 with Clothes Mentor and has held many roles, including; Store Manager, New Store Opener, and Regional Operations Manager. Before joining NTY Franchise Company, Jenny worked for Old Navy (Gap, Inc.) and Target in management roles.

Michelle Vaudrin

Senior Director of Operations

Michelle Vaudrin is the Senior Director of Operations for Clothes Mentor and Children’s Orchard. Prior to joining NTY Franchise Company in March 2016, she worked in leadership roles for Burlington, American Eagle and Macy’s. Michelle attended University of Wisconsin-Stout with a degree in Retail Merchandising and Business Administration. She brings extensive background in training of strategies, merchandising, customer service and multi-unit store operations to the team.

Ashley Huebner

Director of Marketing

Ashley Huebner oversees NTY Franchise Company’s marketing and advertising efforts to drive sales, build brand awareness and lead the planning on how to effectively market both brands. She leads creative initiatives for NTY Franchise Company, driving the brands’ vision in aesthetics, tone, and trends to elevate our brand position as a leader in the resale category. Ashley joined the Clothes Mentor team in March of 2015. Ashley has 8+ years of Graphic Design experience. Ashley holds a strong background in design, user experience, and a passion for creativity. She holds a BA degree in Advertising and Art.

Jessica Fix

Franchise Contract and Office Administrator

Jessica Fix is the Franchise Contracts and Office Administrator for NTY Franchise Company. She started with the company in January of 2018. Jessica works alongside the Franchise Development Team and provides office support to the headquarter office. She has 20 years in the franchise industry, previously working for Carlson Leisure Group/Travel Leaders Franchise Group in a variety of roles, such as Database Coordinator, Legal Contract Administrator, and Executive Assistant to the Franchise Sales Team.