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NTY Franchise Acquires Children’s Orchard

NTY Franchise Company, a pioneering force in the rapidly growing $13 billion resale/retail industry, continues its aggressive growth plan with the acquisition of Children’s Orchard, a chain of top quality, gently used children’s merchandise. NTY, “New To You,” based in Minnetonka, Minn., purchased Children’s Orchard to expand its footprint nationwide as a leader in the resale-retail sector. Source: PRWeb

NTY is the umbrella company overseeing five resale/retail brands including Clothes Mentor, New Uses, Device Pit Stop, NTY Clothing Exchange and NTY Kids. To enhance its NTY Kids brand, the company bought the chain of 32 Children’s Orchard stores, boutiques of top quality, gently used children’s clothing, toys, furniture, equipment, books and accessories. The company will combine the two brands, under the Children’s Orchard name, to enhance the customer experience at the store level with a robust point of sale and management system, centralized analytics and an attractive customer loyalty program.

Used Means New Opportunity

Chad Olson and his father Ron, who commercialized the resale-retail franchising business model, founded NTY FRANCHISE COMPANY. Ron was one of the founders of Grow Biz International, known today as Winmark Corporation, which specializes in franchising nationally known resale brands such as Play It Again Sports®, Once Upon A Child ®, Plato’s Closet® and Music Go Round® . The company grew to more than 1,000 locations before Ron retired in March, 2000. Knowing the hot resale franchise market, Ron and his son, Chad, jumped back into the business in October, 2006, by purchasing the franchise rights to Clothes Mentor, a brand that buys and sells gently used women’s clothes and accessories. Since October, 2006, the company has grown into NTY Franchise Company with four other brands specializing in teen young adult clothing, computer related devices and home goods.

Chad feels this acquisition is the fuel the company needs to skyrocket NTY’s children’s brands to the next level. “We’re thrilled the acquisition will bring together these dynamic brands to give customers nationwide the best buying experience in beautiful, efficiently run stores they’ll want to visit time and time again,” says Chad. “Whether customers are selling their merchandise or buying it, Children’s Orchard will be their first choice destination because of the quality of service and rewarding experience we will provide.”

“We can’t imagine a better fit, and we’re confident Chad Olson and his team at NTY will catapult the brand to dominate the gently used children’s industry,” says Taylor Bond, CEO of Children’s Orchard. “This is our baby we nurtured with passion, and we’re thrilled NTY will keep the name, which has a loyal following of moms across the country.”

Industry Inspires New Breed of Shopper

The acquisition comes as the resale-retail industry is taking off. In the recent years of economic flux, when people watched their home values plummet and retirement accounts dwindle, resale shopping has attracted more consumers than ever before and continues to do so. Emerging from the shaky economy, this new breed of cautious shopper has discovered and embraced resale and is taking advantage of the values in both purchasing and selling gently used items.

Although the economy has bounced back somewhat, those shoppers who found resale when it was a necessity now make it part of their shopping routine. Resale spending increased by 19.5 percent between December 2007 and December 2013, nearly six percentage points more than all non-auto retail.

With the acquisition, the Children’s Orchard headquarters will move to Minnetonka. The plan is to grow from 32 stores to a nationwide web of outlets, dominating the children’s resale/retail space.

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About NTY Franchise Company

NTY Franchise Company, based in Minnetonka, Minn., is a pioneering force in the rapidly growing $13 billion resale/retail industry. It’s an umbrella company overseeing five different resale franchises including Clothes Mentor (women’s clothes, 124 stores), Device Pit Stop, (device repair and resale, 10 stores), New Uses (home goods, 10 stores) and Clothing Exchange (teen, young adult clothes, 1 store ). The company recently purchased Children’s Orchard, a chain of 32 stores offering top quality, gently used children’s merchandise.

Founded by Chad Olson and his father, Ron, the godfather of the gently used sector, NTY Franchise company leads the industry in the exploding resale space. Resale spending increased by 19.5 percent between December 2007 and December 2013, nearly six percentage points more than all non-auto retail.

About Children’s Orchard

Children’s Orchard, an Ann Arbor, Mich.-based chain of top quality, gently used children’s merchandise, was recently acquired by NTY Franchise Company. The chain of 32 boutiques sells top quality, gently used children’s clothing, toys, furniture, equipment, books and accessories. After the acquisition, the company will combine the two brands under the Children’s Orchard name to enhance the customer experience at the store level with a robust point of sale and management system, centralized analytics and an attractive customer loyalty program.

NTY, based in Minnetonka, Minn., purchased Children’s Orchard to expand its footprint nationwide as a leader in the resale/retail sector. Children’s Orchard will move its headquarters to Minnetonka with plans to grow from 32 stores to a nationwide web of outlets, dominating the children’s resale/retail space.

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.