NTY Franchise Company is Number 28 on the Fast 50! Take a look at this interview with Chad Olson. Source: bizjournals.com
We asked Chief Operating Officer Chad Olson:
What was a key accomplishment for your company in 2014? Our largest brand, Clothes Mentor, had a record year for new store openings — 34 in 2014.
Chad Olson (left) and Ronald Olson of NTY Franchise Company.
What was the most difficult challenge of 2014, and what did you learn from it?Keeping the lead funnel full for selling new franchises. We learned we needed to focus our online strategy for generating leads and we needed our people to be in the right positions to qualify the leads and sell the prospects on our franchises.
Where do you see your company in five years? Crossing the 500-store mark and well on our way to seeing our longer-term goal of over 1,000 stores across America coming into view.
How does it feel to be one of the Twin Cities’ fastest-growing private companies? We are excited to be one of the Twin Cities fastest-growing companies. But the reality is, we have a lot more to accomplish and a lot of room to keep growing.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal released their list of the Fast 50, a list of Minnesota’s top entrepreneurs for the year. The list takes an in-depth look some of the fastest-growing companies in the state, and Ron and Chad Olson were featured as part of this list.
The article looks at the humble beginnings of the company, as well as how Ron and Chad were able to take the Clothes Mentor store and turn it into an empire. The full article can be accessed from the Fast 50 List on the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Magazine Website.
Ron Olson and his son Chad were recently featured by Franchise Times in a “Where Are They Now?” article. The article takes a quick look at the past, present, and future of franchise owner Ron Olson, speaking about his role as an “entrepreneur’s entrepreneur”, and the new franchise concepts for NTY. The full article can be seen below. Sourced from: Franchise Times
Where are they now: Recycling kings at it again
BY NANCY WEINGARTNER
A serial entrepreneur is playing it again—but not in used sports equipment this time. Today it’s clothing for women, teens and even men. The secret is to be upscale and not segregate the plus sizes.
Ron Olson so believes in the power of recycled goods that he’s recycling his career. The Minnesota-based businessman made it big with his original multi-concept company, Grow Biz, which is now Winmark.
Ron Olson, right, and his son Chad have teamed up again at NTY Franchise Company with plans to develop three brands in the popular sell-it-again genre.
After selling the company in 2000—which included Play it Again Sports, Once Upon a Child and Plato’s Closet—Olson retired. Five years later he discovered something AARP never tells seniors: “Retirement is very boring.”
“I was looking for other opportunities as every entrepreneur does,” he says. He found it in Columbus, Ohio, where he was having dinner with Dennis and Lynn Blum, who wanted to show him their new concept, Clothes Mentor. The resale store for women had good bones, but needed fleshing out. His specialty.
Olson is an entrepreneur’s entrepreneur. His forte is investing in others’ concepts and helping grow their business. Almost anything can be recycled into a business, he says, except perhaps tools. “No one wanted to sell their (used) tools,” he says about the one concept he couldn’t hammer out—Re-Tool.
The beauty of a concept like Clothes Mentor is the customers never age out. “Women change sizes, they change professions and they don’t wear clothes that long,” he says. Most of the clothes he teaches franchisees to buy are two years old and hardly worn.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into pricing,” he says. “Our secret sauce is the pricing” and which brands to buy.
The beauty of a second time around is you’ve already made the mistakes. His son Chad, who joined him at his original company right out of college, is COO of the new company, NTY Franchise Co. Clothing Mentor has more than 100 stores, with 67 in the pipeline, Olson says.
Coming online are two other concepts: NTY Clothing for teens and 20-somethings and New Uses for household items. “It’s a totally recession-proof business,” Chad Olson says.
The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal released their list of the Fast 50, a list of Minnesota’s top entrepreneurs for the year. The list takes an in-depth look at some of the fastest-growing companies in the state, and Ron and Chad Olson were featured as part of this list.
The article looks at the humble beginnings of the company, as well as how Ron and Chad were able to take the Clothes Mentor store and turn it into an empire. The full article can be accessed from the Fast 50 List on the Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Magazine Website.
Michelle Vaudrin is the Senior Director of Operations for Children’s Orchard and Clothes Mentor. Before joining Children’s Orchard in 2016, she worked in leadership roles for Burlington, American Eagle, and Macy’s.
Michelle attended the University of Wisconsin-Stout with a Retail Merchandising and Business Administration degree. She brings an extensive background in training in strategies, merchandising, customer service, and multi-unit store operations to the team.
Jenny Mann
Vice President of Operations | Executive Director of IT
Jenny Mann is the Vice President of Operations for Clothes Mentor and Children’s Orchard. In January of 2020, Jenny also took on the role of Executive Director of IT, overseeing BST, our Point of Sale system, 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.
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.
Sean Marrs
IT/Tech Administrator
IT/Tech Administrator
Marissa Stacy
Jr. Graphic Designer
Jr. Graphic Designer
Ashlyn Aarness
Social Media Specialist
Social Media Specialist
Ashley Huebner
Director of Marketing
Ashley Huebner oversees Children’s Orchard’s marketing and advertising efforts to drive sales, build brand awareness, and lead the planning on how to market the brand effectively. She leads creative initiatives by driving the brands’ vision in aesthetics, tone, and trends to elevate our brand position as a leader in the resale category.
Ashley joined the Children’s Orchard team in 2015. Ashley has 10+ 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.
Sarah Primmer
VP 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.
