Start a Style Encore Franchise in 2024

Franchise 500 Rank: N/R Not ranked last year

Initial investment: $275K - $415K

Units as of 2024: 68 4% over 3 years

Style Encore is the latest addition to the Winmark family’s award-winning brands, including Plato’s Closet, Once Upon A Child, Play It Again Sports, and Music Go Round. Leveraging over 30-year experience in the retail resale business, Winmark targets women in the 20 to 50 age group for Style Encore.

Style Encore was founded in 2013 and began franchising later that same year. There are over 50 franchises located in the United States, as well as another several in Canada.

At Style Encore, women sell their slightly used apparel and accessories and buy precious finds from other women at up to 90% off the standard retail price. As a franchisee, you may not only be finding success in your store, but also helping your customers face the world with confidence, the intelligent way.

Why You May Want to Start a Style Encore Franchise

A Style Encore franchise could be the perfect setting and vehicle if you wish to work a potentially fun job while positively impacting your community.

Opening a Style Encore franchise may offer a more predictable outcome than investing in a completely new brand that may struggle to thrive in an already crowded and competitive industry.

Some Style Encore franchisees also choose to own other brands under the Winmark umbrella, thanks to their stellar market reputation, topnotch systems, and impressive unit economics.

What Might Make a Style Encore Franchise a Good Choice?

To be part of the Style Encore team, you should make sure you’re financially ready for an initial investment made up of a franchise fee and other startup costs. In addition, you should prepare yourself for ongoing fees that will include advertising, royalty, and potential renewal fees. You will also need to meet Style Encore’s minimum net worth and liquid capital requirements.

Your initial investment will come with quite a long list of inclusions, such as business planning assistance, retail site selection, demographic studies, and area market analysis. Style Encore will also provide you with a proprietary digital system for your operations, several dozens hours of classroom training, pre-opening, opening, and ongoing support in all critical areas of operations, from employee training to marketing to go along with a toll-free, technician-staffed support center.

How To Open a Style Encore Franchise

After obtaining basic information about the brand, you will be asked to tell the company about yourself, including your financial background. Once Style Encore determines that you are qualified to be a franchisee, they will contact you again and answer any other questions you may have. You will also be invited to make store visits and talk to current franchisees, which is an excellent way to validate the company’s Franchise Disclosure Document.

You will then be meeting the Style Encore franchise team on discovery day, your final step in seeing if this franchise is right for you. When your franchise application is approved, you’ll schedule to sign your franchise agreement, pay the initial fees, select a site, complete training, and finish all other steps leading up to your grand opening.

Soon, you may find yourself opening the newest Style Encore franchise.

Company Overview

About Style Encore

Industry	Retail
Related Categories	Apparel & Accessories
Founded	2013
Parent Company	Winmark Corp.
Leadership	Brett Heffes, CEO
Corporate Address	605 Hwy. 169 N., #400 Minneapolis, MN 55441
Social	Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube

Business Overview

Franchising Since	2013 (11 years)
# of employees at HQ	89
Where seeking	This company is offering new franchises throughout the US. This company is offering new franchises in the following international regions: Canada
# of Units	68 (as of 2024)

Information for Franchisees

Here's what you need to know if you're interested in opening a Style Encore franchise.

Financial Requirements & Ongoing Fees

Here's what you can expect to spend to start the business and what ongoing fees the franchisor charges throughout the life of the business.

Initial Franchise Fee Definition: The initial fee paid to a franchisor to join their system What you need to know: Found in Item 5 of the FDD, this may be a flat fee, or may vary based on territory size, experience, or other factors.The franchise fee is an up-front (one-time) cost that a new franchisee pays to the franchisor. This fee is usually due at the signing of the franchise agreement and covers the right to use the franchisor's trademarks, name, and related business systems.	$25,000
Initial Investment Definition: The total amount necessary to begin operation of the franchise What you need to know: The initial investment includes the franchise fee, along with other startup expenses such as real estate, equipment, supplies, business licenses, and working capital. This is outlined in a chart in Item 7 of the FDD, showing a range of possible costs from low to high.	$274,800 - $415,300
Net Worth Requirement Definition: The minimum net worth you must have in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company What you need to know: Net worth is the value of a person's assets minus liabilities. Assets include cash, stocks, retirement accounts, and real estate. Liabilities include items like mortgages, car payments, and credit card debt.	$400,000
Cash Requirement Definition: The minimum liquid capital you must have available in order to qualify to become a franchisee of this company.	$75,000 - $90,000
Royalty Fee Definition: A ongoing fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis. What you need to know: Most franchisors require franchisees to pay an ongoing royalty fee, which is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD. This fee is typically a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales, but may also be a flat weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	5%
Ad Royalty Fee Definition: An going fee paid to the franchisor on a regular basis to support advertising or marketing efforts. What you need to know: This may also be called advertising fee, marketing fee, brand fund fee, and more, but the basic purpose is the same-- to support promotion of the brand systemwide. As with the royalty fee, it is detailed in Item 6 of the FDD, and can be a percentage of weekly or monthly gross sales or a weekly, monthly, or annual fee.	$1.5K/yr.
Term of Agreement Definition: The length of time your franchise agreement will last. What you need to know: Franchise terms are typically anywhere from 5 to 20 years in length, but are sometimes instead dependent on factors such as the term of your lease. Once your term is up, you may have the option to renew your agreement, typically for a smaller fee than the original franchise fee.	10 years
Is franchise term renewable?	Yes

Financing Options

Some franchisors offer in-house financing, while others have relationships with third-party financing sources to which they refer qualified franchisees.

Third Party Financing	Style Encore has relationships with third-party sources which offer financing to cover the following: franchise fee, startup costs, equipment, inventory, payroll

Training & Support Offered

Franchisors offer initial training programs and a variety of ongoing support options to help franchisees run their businesses.

On-The-Job Training	21.5 hours
Classroom Training	31.5 hours
Ongoing Support	Purchasing Co-ops Newsletter Meetings & Conventions Toll-Free Line Grand Opening Online Support Security & Safety Procedures Field Operations Site Selection Proprietary Software Franchisee Intranet Platform
Marketing Support	Co-op Advertising Ad Templates National Media Regional Advertising Social Media SEO Website Development Email Marketing Loyalty Program/App

Operations

Additional details about running this franchise.

Is absentee ownership allowed?	No
Can this franchise be run from home/mobile unit? Definition: The business can be run from your home and/or a vehicle, and it is not necessary to have a retail facility, office space, or warehouse.	No
Can this franchise be run part time? Definition: This business can be run by the owner on a part-time basis (less than 40 hours per week) and/or as a side business; it is not necessary for the business to be open/run full-time.	No
# of employees required to run	3-5
Are exclusive territories available? Definition: An exclusive territory is a fixed area in which you are given the right to operate and in which no other units of the same franchise may be opened. What you need to know: Territory size may be based on factors such as radius, population size, zip codes, and more. Details can be found in Item 12 of the FDD.	Yes