Once Upon A Child mainly offers clothing, shoes, toys, and baby gear for infants, toddlers, and children up to size 16. Meanwhile, Plato’s Closet focuses on providing trendy clothing items for teens and young adults from sizes 0-22.
There are three main types of consignment stores: Plato’s Closet, Once Upon A Child, and Clothes Mentor. Each store offers its own unique selection of merchandise.
Winmark – The Resale Company owns the Once Upon A Child franchise, Plato’s Closet, Play It Again Sports, Style Encore, and Music Go Round. About two years ago, McNail said she became more serious about the idea of opening the store.
Once Upon a Child resells children’s items at around 70% off retail prices. It buys used items for about 30 to 40% of the resale price. That means for accepted items, you’ll receive 10 to 15% of the retail value when you sell clothes to Once Upon a Child.
The store’s name was inspired by a Blum son’s schoolwork about Plato who had been an early advocate of recycling, which paralleled the aim to recycle used clothes.
While the company was founded in 1985, the franchising rights for Once Upon A Child were sold to Winmark Corporation (formerly Growbiz International) in 1992. The Blums continue to own and operate 8 stores in Columbus and Toledo.
Once Upon A Child has more than 400 store locations across North America. The company purchases millions of items yearly and sells even more units ranging from clothes, toys, furniture, equipment, and books.
Once Upon A Child is owned by Winmark which was formerly known as Grow Biz. They now have 229 locations in the United States and 24 locations in Canada.