Winmark Corporation is an American franchisor of five retail businesses that specialize in buying and selling used goods.

Morgan rescued Winmark from the verge of bankruptcy by selling financially failing franchise concepts and stores and replacing the management team.

Around 2013, research company IBISWorld reported that in the used goods outlet market, Goodwill Industries was first with a 21.5% share, Winmark was second with nearly 6%, and The Salvation Army was third with nearly 4%.

Morris decided to start her own store since she believed other people might have used sports equipment they would like to sell.

Although Olson and Dahlberg were first concerned about the idea's outlook for success, their worries disappeared after they dropped by her outlet a Saturday morning and found a line of 10 customers before Morris' store had even opened.

[2] Their strategy to captivate franchisees was to add urbanity to something they called a "garage sale-looking environment" but not harm the initial idea.

[3] The company was incorporated as Play It Again Sports Franchise Corporation in 1988[3] and was renamed to Grow Biz International Inc. in June 1993.

[7] By a year after joining the company as CEO, Morgan rescued Winmark from the precipice of bankruptcy by introducing stringent review of franchisee finances, shuttering failing Play It Again Sports stores, and appointing his own people to executive and board positions.

He selected as board members Kirk MacKenzie, whom he had worked with at Winthrop Resources, and Paul Reyelts, the chief financial officer at Valspar.

[13] Morgan said in a 2009 interview with the Star Tribune about the state of Winmark before he joined, "The company was very good at selling franchises, but it was still losing money.

[15] Around 2013, research company IBISWorld found that in the used goods outlet market, Goodwill Industries was first with a 21.5% share, Winmark was second with nearly 6%, and The Salvation Army was third with nearly 4%.

[17] In February 2016, President Brett Heffes was chosen as Winmark's next CEO, succeeding John Morgan, who became the executive chairman.

[25] Founded as Hi-Tech Consignments in Minneapolis by Bill Shell in 1986, Winmark purchased it in 1993 and renamed it to Music Go Round.

[25] The first Once Upon a Child store was opened in 1985 in Perrysburg, Ohio, by Dennis and Lynn Blum in 1985 after they observed Goodwill Industries accepting and selling used baby attire.

[27] Prior to opening a store, Lynn Blum had been selling her three sons' and friends' and neighbors' clothing in a garage sale from her house every week.

[24] Plato's Closet purchases and sells used brand name teenager and young adult clothing, shoes, and accessories.

[24] A 2001 article in the Star Tribune noted that Plato's Closet in 2001 stocked up on brand names such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Gap Inc., Silver Jeans Co., Sean John, Express, Inc., and Dr. Martens that they sold at a markdown of between 50% and 75%.

In January 2013, Winmark announced that it would start a new franchise, Style Encore, that would focus on used women's clothing.

[21] Style Encore immediately pays cash to people looking to sell used women's and men's attire, footwear, handbags, and jewelry.

[12] CEO John Morgan stated that the business was spun off as unlike durable products like musical instruments and sporting goods that always have a strong resale market, Computer Renaissance's used equipment and software had a lower resale value due to the era's rapidly-changing technology.

[2] In July 1994, Winmark spent $2.3 million to purchase CDX Audio, which used the name CD Exchange in Green Bay, Wisconsin.

[38] The outlet had an electronic system that recorded all the CDs a store had so customers did not have to browse the shelves trying to determine whether a particular CD was present.

[38] Winmark sold Disc Go Round, which had increased to 137 stores, to CD Warehouse on June 26, 1998, for $7.4 million.

During its last year under Winmark management, It's About Games lost $3.4 million due to excessive inventory, a buggy computer system, poorly chosen products, and improperly trained employees.