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.
