Women Share Their Secrets for Successfully Running a Clothing Resale Store

Ask anyone who runs a business how they make it a success, and you’ll hear the same answer: it takes more than hard work and gumption to get it running and keep it thriving.  That’s especially true for women who own a clothing resale store like Clothes Mentor or Children’s Orchard. Women who take on this kind of challenge share several common traits—they’re ambitious, flexible and always willing to learn and grow. The competitive resale business demands a savvy owner who stays on top of market trends, knows how to hire and nurture the right staff, and isn’t afraid of emerging technology. If you’re thinking about investing in an NTY Franchise Company store, here are some shortcuts from current owners happy to share their secrets for success!

Don’t Apologize for Being Particular

 For Cindy Kehagiaras, being picky is perfect for her Children’s Orchard franchise in Manhattan Beach, California. This working mom purchased her franchise with her mother in 2010. She had never owned a business, and discovered Children’s Orchard when her son was born. She quickly realized she wanted her store to have a certain look and feel that aligned with her vision and values for her franchise.

To that end, she makes no apologies for being particular:

In purchasing (she only buys great condition, current styles)

In arranging displays (all clothing is color-coded by size and gender)

In making gentle corrections when she sees young customers being messy or destructive (she will charge customers who damage merchandise)

“You want an environment where people feel comfortable,” Cindy explains, “but you want to portray an air of organization.”

Make Interesting Hiring Decisions

In Charlotte, North Carolina, Clothes Mentor owner Alyssa Cox decided to take a chance and hire an employee who has Down Syndrome. It turns out to be one of the best decisions she has made for her franchise. 20-year-old Julia started as a greeter, but in less than a year has expanded her position to include handing out flyers and helping customers find particular items.

“She knows the merchandise,” Alyssa laughs, “because Julia likes to shop!” This sweet greeter has become a valuable part of the customer service team, and store patrons love her infectious smile and happy disposition. “Julia is a hardworking individual,” Alyssa says, “and our sales are higher when she’s there. It’s really great having her on our team.” Alyssa has plans to hire more workers with Down Syndrome, and she recommends other franchise owners strongly consider an employee with a disability when making hiring decisions.

Know Your Market

 For savvy Sadie Cherney, a thorough knowledge of her market has proved invaluable to the success of her Clothes Mentor franchises in Greenville, Columbia, and Spartanburg, South Carolina. This 33-year-old bundle of energy hit the ground running when she opened her first store in 2013 and has never stopped doing market research.

“It was a steep learning curve,” Sadie admits, “but we are perpetually learning how to adapt to the customer and reach them.” She says she experiments with different media for advertising, and always looks for ways to buy what the customer is looking for.

Sadie is a Data Diva, thriving on crunching numbers and thrilled with the information her NTY Franchise Company corporate managers supply from their point of sales system. She learns about trends and pricing and says she’s always ready to adapt to the type of change dictated by her specific market.

“When it comes to fashion, we look for spike trends,” Sadie offers. “We buy with caution and we get rid of merchandise quickly when it doesn’t sell.” Her shoppers prefer Louis Vuitton, Coach, Michael Kors and Kate Spade handbags — and on-trend footwear including slides, athletic shoes and ankle boots. Sadie only accepts what she knows will appeal to her customer base. The average seller brings in a laundry basket, Sadie explains, “and we will normally accept about 15 pieces. From a large tote, we normally accept around 9 pieces.” After studying the data, Sadie says her store normally accepts about 25–30 percent of the items people bring in to sell, and employees look for current designer pieces and iconic styles that always appeal to her customer base.

Connect with Customers Inside and Outside of the Store

 Exceptional customer service is a great basis for growing a business. But for women who own a clothing resale store, there are also some deeper reasons for making close connections with customers.

Buying and selling pre-owned clothing and accessories leaves less of an impact on the environment, and allows women to help other women in two ways. Sellers make on-the-spot cash for their pre-owned items, and buyers get fantastic deals on current fashions.

Some women who own an NTY Franchise Company store align themselves with like-minded groups, to further their goal of helping their community. Many owners, like Chris Barnett in Westchester and Springfield, Pennsylvania, have dedicated bins in their store to collect donations for women’s shelters and faith-based charities that help women. Chris says her overarching goal when she opened her business was to allow her young daughter to see women cheering each other on.

“We hold fundraisers and retail therapy parties,” Chris says, “to show women how beautiful they are by finding clothes that fit them the best.” And Chris’s husband Stephen gave up his law practice to mentor young employees, to help them build their portfolios and become successful, productive workers once they move on from Clothes Mentor.

Seek Out Social Media

 Most owners agree, free advertising is a great option when it comes to reaching younger shoppers, especially millennials and Gen-Xers who constantly have their phones in hand.

At nearly 50 years old, Chris Barnett in Pennsylvania educated herself about Facebook and how to use it to successfully advertise her two Clothes Mentor stores. “We can communicate directly with customers and answer their questions immediately,” she says.

Cindy Kehagiaras in California takes it a step further — interacting with her Children’s Orchard customers on a daily basis on various social media platforms, and offering bilingual flyers for her Spanish-speaking patrons.

“We use elbow grease instead of the checkbook,” Cindy chuckles. “We don’t do traditional advertising. We put all our information on social media sites.” Cindy and her team also forward funny pictures and repost trending videos that are relevant to their customers. Their “likes’ and “shares” generate positive buzz for their business, and create a feeling of goodwill among their customers. After some trial and error, Cindy found that having an “Instagram rack” of photo-worthy items from all price points helps drive sales in her store.

Sadie Cherney hosts a monthly style segment on local TV in the Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C. area. “I get to style six mannequins for the news,” she says, “and I love it!” Sadie is a whiz at social media marketing and handles that part of the business for her three stores.

Obviously, customers are getting the message from these smart store owners, and are coming back to buy and sell their on-trend clothing and accessories. It’s all part of the recipe for success for these women who make it their business to keep other women looking and feeling beautiful.

Interview with COO Chad Olson Featured in USA Weekly

If you could go back in time, what business advice would you tell your younger self? Chad Olson, COO of NTY Franchise Company, shares what he has learned and more in this excerpt from USA Weekly.

Starting a business is a big achievement for many entrepreneurs, but maintaining one is the larger challenge. There are many standard challenges that face every business whether they are large or small. It is not easy running a company, especially in a fast-paced, ever-changing business world. Technology advances, new hiring strategies, and now, political changes coming with the new administration, all add to the existing business challenges that entrepreneurs, business owners, and executives have to deal with.

Maximizing profits, minimizing expenses and finding talented staff to keep things moving seem to be top challenges for both SMBs and large corporations. We have been interviewing companies from around the world to discover what challenges they are facing in their businesses. We also asked each company to share business advice they would give to a younger version of themselves.

Below is our interview with Chad Olson, COO at NTY Franchise Company:

What does your company do?

NTY Franchise Company Founded in 2006 by Ron Olson, NTY Franchise Company is the gold standard in resale franchising companies. NTY franchises five brands, all with a different focus: Clothes Mentor, Children’s Orchard, Device Pitstop, New Uses, and NTY Clothing Exchange. The brands are all resale-based and cover women’s designer fashions, children’s apparel and accessories, furniture and household goods, electronic sales and repair, and clothing for teens and young adults. All are great business opportunities with cutting-edge technology, unmatched support, and lucrative resale franchises. NTY Franchise Company has helped individuals to establish resale stores throughout the United States in many communities, and it has territories available to develop nationwide.

What is your role? What do you enjoy most about your role?

I am the COO of NTY Franchise Company. What I enjoy most about my role is working through the different challenges and opportunities that arise every day. There is constant problem solving and coaching opportunities and I am fortunate enough to hopefully make a difference. Our franchisees have invested a lot of money to open their business, achieve their goals of being their own boss and generate success. The thrill for me is having the opportunity to help them realize these goals.

 

Click here to read the full article on usaweekly.com.

Upcoming Seminars to Learn About Franchising and NTY

franchising seminar attendees

NTY Franchise Company will be discussing our innovative franchise opportunities in person at the following seminars presented by the Franchise Consulting Company (FCC).

Hear firsthand from our VP of Franchising, Jim Wollman, about what makes our five resale brands special and our business model successful.

Upcoming Seminars

March 16: Santa Clara, CA, hosted by Rick Morgin. 

March 18: Los Angeles, CA, hosted by Stephen Winterrowd and Lauren Grant. 

March 29: Fort Lauderdale, FL, hosted by Cliff Fostoff.

Hope to see you there!

5 Reasons Why NTY Franchises are Sustainable Businesses

Selecting a franchise is a big decision. That’s why it’s important to choose one that will stand the tests of time and the economy. Here are five reasons why NTY franchises are sustainable businesses:

1. Resale

All five NTY franchises are resale businesses. By its very nature, resale is sustainable. Take the company’s flagship brand Clothes Mentor, for example, which started franchising in 2007 when the U.S. economy was on the verge of a recession. Within the following few years, when other retail stores were struggling, Clothes Mentor stores were thriving. The downturn created an even bigger demand for the resale niche that has continued to grow as the economy improves.

2. Green Concept

Franchisees that partner with NTY and customers that shop our stores value the reuse of quality goods. NTY stores buy products from customers for cash on-the-spot, which puts money back into the pockets of people within the community. This, in turn, helps the planet by extending the life of great clothing, shoes, furniture, toys, electronics and more and keeps those items out of landfills.

3. Customers Love NTY Products and Services

Just like they love making money by selling items to NTY Franchise stores, customers love saving money by shopping with us, too. Our point-of-sale software features a sophisticated buy matrix, which helps NTY Franchise stores price their high-quality merchandise at approximately 70% less than the original retail price. That great value and seeing new items on the floor every day keeps shoppers coming back.

4. Profitability at Store Level

Our proprietary point-of-sale system also helps stores stay on course for achieving high gross margins of approximately 60%, which translates to a faster return on investment, greater profits and the opportunity for rapid growth to multi-store businesses. The following is a snapshot of the return-on-investment numbers for franchisees with our Children’s Orchard brand.

Return on investment numbers for Children’s Orchard:

children's orchard top store sales 2015Children's orchard average store sales 2015

5. Accessible Corporate Team and Franchisee Network

With 200 stores open across all brands, NTY has developed a strong franchise support system that starts with a highly experienced management team. In addition, we have a large and diverse network of franchisees that are easily accessible for validation during the franchising process as well as ongoing support in the form of idea sharing, franchise advisory councils (FACs), potential advertising cooperatives, comradery and more.

Click on the brand logos at the top of this page to find out more about NTY’s five franchises.

 

*$648,342 is the average net sales of the 5 stores included in the top 25% of all 21 Children’s Orchard® stores in operation for entire calendar year ended December 31, 2015. Of the 5 stores included in the average net sales for the top 25% of all stores, 2 stores (40%) met or exceeded the average net sales. There is no assurance, however, that you will do as well. See Item 19 of the Children’s Orchard® Franchise Disclosure Document dated April 26, 2016, for more information.

Franchising is Smart, and Entrepreneurs are Catching On

Check out this article from altoonamirror.com about why franchising is a smart business move. For one, it allows you to build your own business with the support of a proven system. Learn more:

Honey Baked Ham franchisee, employee and customer
Mirror photo by J.D. Cavrich.

Franchises gaining in popularity

By Walt Frank

After his family business was sold, Mike Folcarelli said he was “looking for something to do.”

So in 2014, Folcarelli opened a HoneyBaked Ham Co. and Cafe franchise in the Pleasant Valley Shopping Center.

“I thought at my age (49 at the time), this was the best way to go, instead of starting something from scratch. They have proven marketing and brand recognition,” Folcarelli said. “I looked at others (franchises), not just in the food business. I just decided on this — it just fit my lifestyle.”

Mike Burgmeier worked at the Greenwood Meadows while in high school and college.

“I have an entrepreneurial flair. I knew I always wanted my own franchise,” Burgmeier said.

Burgmeier is the franchise owner of the Chick-fil-A restaurant set to open in March at 106 Sierra Drive, the site of the former Montezuma Mexican Restaurant.

“I started to pursue this in 2013. I looked at several other types of franchises, but I wanted to be in the food retail industry. Chick-fil-A is dedicated to customer service. Their core values and my core values lined up,” Burgmeier said. “I am pleased I have the ability to bring in a franchise like Chick-fil-A, which does tremendous things for the community. It will be a nice place for people to sit down and enjoy a good product. I am excited about that.”

Between 12,000 and 15,000 new franchise businesses open every year in the United States, or between 30 and 40 per day.

There are an estimated 733,000 franchise business establishments in the U.S., meaning about 3 percent of all businesses are franchises, and franchise businesses employ about 7.6 million people directly, said John R. Reynolds, president of the Franchise Education and Research Foundation.

Reynolds said the franchising industry has averaged about 2 percent to 3 percent growth per year in the past few years.

Franchises are very popular these days.

“Franchises are popular because they provide business owners with a systematic approach to owning and operating a business that provides branding, marketing, training and support. It combines the resources of the franchisor and franchisees in the network to get a multiplier effect,” Reynolds said. “Many people buy into a franchise because they want to go into business for themselves, but not by themselves. Being part of a franchise system gives them advantages of not going it alone.”

Judy and Anthony Branda have owned the Greenwood Meadows franchise for about nine years.

“My husband had talked to the people who owned it and told them if they ever wanted to sell it, to let us know. We thought it would be a fun business to get into; when people come in for ice cream, they are happy,” Judy Branda said.

Melvin Milne has owned the Budget Blinds franchise in Altoona for nine years, and the one in State College for five years.

“I was in the construction business. I normally worked for someone else and this was a way to get started; a franchise helps you jump-start a business,” Milne said. “I’ve been in this nine years. The economy was not the greatest when I started. It was difficult at first, but the last couple of years it has been nothing but referrals and repeat business.”

David Rosen is the owner of the Griswold Home Care franchise in Hollidaysburg. He also owns two other Griswold franchises.

“I was a do-it-yourself type of person and I wanted to be more of a franchise person. I liked the idea of partnership. The company was moving in the right direction, and I felt it was a solid company,” Rosen said. “Partnerships bring some expertise and help you achieve success. For me, I really liked the mix and felt it was a good fit.”

Owning a franchise has advantages.

According to the International Franchise Association, owning a franchise allows you to go into business for yourself, but not by yourself. A franchise provides franchisees with a certain level of independence where they can operate their business. A franchise provides an established product or service that might already enjoy widespread brand-name recognition. This gives the franchisee the benefits of a pre-sold customer base that would ordinarily takes years to establish. A franchise can increase the chance of business success because it is associated with proven products and methods. Franchises also offer consumers the attraction of a certain level of quality and consistency because it is mandated by the franchise agreement.

“You have a proven product and the system is in place. You don’t have to re-invent the wheel, just follow the system and try to improve on it in your local market. It comes down to hiring the right people and training them and serving the customers,” Folcarelli said.

But there can be some disadvantages to owning  a franchise.

The franchisee is not completely independent. Franchisees are required to operate their businesses according to the procedures and restrictions set forth by the franchisor in the franchisee agreement. These restrictions usually include the products or services which can be offered, pricing and geographic territory, according to the IFA.

“You have to recognize that you don’t have the luxury to mess with branding and changes,” Rosen said.

Owning a franchise can take a lot of work.

“You do put in a lot of long hours. In this small business, you are the HR guy, the purchasing guy, the sales guy. There is a lot more responsibility than at a larger company. You wear all of the hats,” Folcarelli said.

It is important to do your research before purchasing a franchise.

“Do your homework on any franchise. There are good ones, there are bad ones, there are great ones and horror stories out there,” Milne said.

The first step is to develop a business plan.

“There are many franchise businesses to choose from. What are the types of businesses that appeal to you that also meet your personal and financial goals in your business plan? Lastly, get advice from a qualified franchise attorney before accepting any franchise offers or signing any franchise agreements,” Reynolds said.

“Check out the company as a whole, its financial situation, how long they have been in business, what kind of talent do they have. Talk to other franchise owners to see if they are willing to talk to you about the franchise. Talk to new ones and others who have been in it for three to five years to get their perspective on the franchise,” Rosen said. “I looked at four or five organizations; Griswold emerged for me. I liked its vision and mission of serving people.”

Reynolds said it is not difficult to get a franchise.

“There are franchises available for less than $100,000, and others for more than $1 million. It’s important to consider a franchise business that meets your personal and financial goals and plans,” Reynolds said.

Click here to see more from altoonamirror.com.