How Does the Style Encore Franchise Work?

The Store sells approved quality used women’s and men’s clothing plus new and used accessories; consumers are the principal source of used inventory, while approved vendors supply new accessories and controlled operating inputs.

Item 1 defines two customer roles. A local seller supplies used merchandise and receives an immediate offer for selected items; a shopper purchases accepted inventory at retail. The official Style Encore selling process says no appointment is required: the Store reviews clothes, shoes, handbags and accessories, selects eligible pieces, and pays on the spot. The consumer FAQ also describes cash, check or store-credit trade options.

Winmark restricts the assortment. The Store cannot sell new apparel and may source new accessories only from approved vendors. Prohibited used goods include undergarments, maternity wear, suspected stolen, recalled, counterfeit or visibly unsafe items. Winmark may add required categories or change approved goods and services. Source: 2026 FDD Items 8 and 16, printed pages 13–15 and 31; Franchise Agreement Section 8(D), printed page 9.

The operating cycle begins with walk-in seller intake, converts accepted merchandise into Store-owned inventory, continues through merchandising and shopper fulfillment, and closes with POS, financial, royalty, marketing and recordkeeping obligations.

Workflow evidence: 2026 FDD Item 11, pages 18–27; Buyer Certification Manual contents, pages 25–26; Franchise Agreement Sections 5(B), 8(P–S) and 12; and the official online-order description.

The disclosed model is owner-operated, not absentee. An individual franchisee must serve as the on-site owner/operator and personally manage the Store unless Winmark gives prior written consent to delegated management.

For a corporate or partnership franchisee, one individual must retain at least 50% of the equity and voting interest and personally manage the Store. A multi-Store franchisee may delegate additional Stores to managers, but those managers must attend Resale University 201. A management person must be on duty whenever the Store is open. The official Winmark franchise FAQ summarizes the requirement as needing an owner-operator in the business.

The strongest operating dependency is Winmark’s required POS System and Proprietary Software, supported by designated or approved vendors for accounting, payment processing, signs, flooring, website activity and other controlled inputs.

The minimum POS configuration includes one dedicated business server and at least three desktop register stations, plus touchscreens, receipt and label printers, scanners, cash drawers, a firewall and related software. Broadband must provide at least 20 Mbps download and 5 Mbps upload; the FDD excludes 5G. Winmark has unrestricted access to POS operational and financial data and may require updates every five years or more often, without a contractual cap on frequency or cost.

Winmark is generally the sole source for the Proprietary Software and configured computer hardware. Used merchandise does not come from an approved-supplier list, but every item must meet approved categories and buying standards. New accessories require approved sources. Exterior and interior signs, carpet and flooring require designated approved suppliers, and the franchisee must use a designated approved accounting/bookkeeping provider. Source: 2026 FDD Items 8 and 11; Franchise Agreement Sections 7(C), 8(D), 8(P–S) and 12(B); Software License Agreement Schedule A.

The Exclusive Territory protects against another permanent Style Encore Store location inside the mapped area; it does not provide exclusive customers, advertising reach, internet demand or unrestricted alternative sales channels.

Winmark typically maps the Exclusive Territory as a three-to-five-mile radius using population density, household income and traffic patterns, then defines a smaller Development Area for site selection. Winmark will not place another franchised or company-owned Style Encore Store at a physical location inside that territory. The franchisee may advertise outside it and serve customers from elsewhere, while Winmark and other franchisees may advertise inside it and serve residents without compensation.

Demand generation combines Winmark-developed creative, a required Store website, local advertising and, where the Designated Market Area has at least two unaffiliated franchisees, a local advertising cooperative. The Franchise Agreement requires approved cooperative and local placement equal to at least 5% of Gross Sales in the disclosed structure. Winmark had not established a North American Ad Fund on the FDD issuance date but retained the right to establish one. The official Style Encore training and support page describes ongoing operational, marketing and trend support.

Winmark sets the required operating framework; the franchisee makes local execution decisions within that framework and remains responsible for employment, inventory selection, customer service, regulatory compliance, daily supervision and Store performance.

Style Encore remained an entirely franchised network throughout the disclosed period: U.S. year-end Store counts moved from 52 in 2023 to 53 in 2024 and 51 in 2025, with no company-owned Stores.

The FDD defines the control structure but does not disclose a standard headcount, item-level pricing authority, e-commerce sales mix, local secondhand-dealer workflow, shift design, labor hours or Store-specific allocation of labor.