Retail
Plato's Closet Franchise
A resale retail franchise buying and selling gently used teen and young-adult clothing, shoes, and accessories through standalone stores. Owned by publicly traded Winmark Corporation (NASDAQ: WINA), the same parent as Play It Again Sports and Once Upon A Child (both also in this dataset); franchised unit count grew every year of its FDD's three-year window, and Winmark's own commentary describes it as one of the more consistent performers in its franchise portfolio.
Every franchisor has to file a document called an FDD before they can legally sell you a franchise. Buried in it are the two things a sales rep won't volunteer: what you'll actually spend to open, and whether existing locations are opening or closing. That's what's below, pulled straight from Plato's Closet's own filing.
What it costs to open
From the filing's investment breakdown -- not a "starting at" number a sales rep quoted you.
Franchise fee
$25,000
Total to open
$355,700–$467,900
Ongoing royalty
5% of gross sales
What you'd actually spend, over time
The upfront cost is only part of it. Plug in what you expect a location to bring in, and see the real total once royalties over a few years are added on top.
Defaulted to a rough retail industry average, not a figure from Plato's Closet's own FDD -- change it to your own estimate.
Total cost of ownership over 5 years
$480,700 – $592,900
Startup investment
$355,700–$467,900
Royalty per year (5%)
$25,000
Total royalty, 5yr
$125,000
When would you break even?
Revenue alone doesn't tell you this -- it depends on what's left after rent, labor, and everything else. Plato's Closet's FDD doesn't disclose a reliable profit figure (most franchisors don't), so this starts from a typical retail profit margin (~6%) and applies it to the revenue you entered above -- adjust the percentage to your own realistic estimate.
Defaulted to a general retail industry benchmark, not a figure from Plato's Closet's own filing -- this is a starting point to adjust, not a promise about what franchisees actually make.
At that profit, you'd break even in about
11.9–15.6 years
Weigh that payback period against what you already know: Plato's Closet is opening more locations. A long payback period on a shrinking brand is a very different bet than the same payback period on a growing one.
Is Plato's Closet actually growing?
Franchisors have to report, every year, how many locations opened, closed, or changed hands. Most franchise sites never show you this. Here it is:
Locations opened vs. closed, by year
GrowingFrom Item 20 of Plato's Closet's FDD, the section franchisors use to disclose real openings and closings.
| Year | Franchised units, start | Franchised units, end | Net change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | 500 | 506 | +6 |
| 2024 | 506 | 515 | +9 |
| 2025 | 515 | 526 | +11 |
Most recent year (2025): gained 11 franchised units, ending the year at 526 total.
How Plato's Closet compares to other Retail franchises
Across the 11 retail franchises we've hand-verified so far, the typical range to open runs $293,525–$655,615, with royalties averaging around 5% of gross sales (based on the 9 of them that charge a flat %-of-revenue royalty).
$364,015–$682,215 · 5% royalty
Play It Again Sports$346,300–$459,700 · 5% royalty
Wild Birds Unlimited$231,635–$376,392 · 4% royalty
The UPS Store$222,368–$606,081 · 5% royalty
Signarama$245,432–$344,768 · 6% royalty
PostNet$240,200–$306,800 · 5% royalty
7-Eleven$162,900–$1,656,800 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Batteries Plus$262,646–$496,996 · 5% royalty
Wireless Zone$441,875–$1,328,210 · non-%-of-revenue royalty
Once Upon A Child$355,700–$485,900 · 5% royalty
Plato's Closet Franchise FAQ
How much does it cost to franchise a Plato's Closet?
Based on Plato's Closet's own FDD, total initial investment to open one location runs $355,700–$467,900, including the $25,000 franchise fee. A direct DFPI or state-registry filing PDF for this entity wasn't located via search, so this entry is drawn from Winmark Corporation's FDD as reproduced in Franchise Chatter's "Plato's Closet Franchise Review 2026" (published 6/27/2026). Item 5: $25,000 initial franchise fee, matching the fee this dataset's existing Play It Again Sports entry (same franchisor, DFPI-verified) discloses. Item 6: 5% royalty on gross sales, also matching Play It Again Sports. Item 7: $355,700-$467,900. Item 20 franchised-unit counts for 2023-2025 (500 to 526) are reproduced from the same review, with company-owned units at zero throughout. Founded year above reflects Winmark's 1998 acquisition of the concept (matching this dataset's convention, used on the Play It Again Sports entry, of dating Winmark brands to Winmark's involvement rather than the original founder's start date); exact FDD issuance date wasn't independently confirmed -- verify directly against the DFPI's public franchise search before relying on this entry.
What is the Plato's Closet franchise fee and royalty rate?
The initial franchise fee is $25,000, and the ongoing royalty is 5% of gross sales, per the filing on record.
Is the Plato's Closet franchise growing or shrinking?
Growing. Across 2023–2025, Plato's Closet added a net 26 franchised locations, per its own annual FDD filings.
Keep going
- Plato's Closet and Once Upon A Child are both retail franchises with the same starting investment, $355,700. Once Upon A Child Franchise
- Plato's Closet and Uptown Cheapskate are both retail franchises; Plato's Closet's total investment starts about $8,315 lower than Uptown Cheapskate's. Uptown Cheapskate Franchise
Where this came from: A direct DFPI or state-registry filing PDF for this entity wasn't located via search, so this entry is drawn from Winmark Corporation's FDD as reproduced in Franchise Chatter's "Plato's Closet Franchise Review 2026" (published 6/27/2026). Item 5: $25,000 initial franchise fee, matching the fee this dataset's existing Play It Again Sports entry (same franchisor, DFPI-verified) discloses. Item 6: 5% royalty on gross sales, also matching Play It Again Sports. Item 7: $355,700-$467,900. Item 20 franchised-unit counts for 2023-2025 (500 to 526) are reproduced from the same review, with company-owned units at zero throughout. Founded year above reflects Winmark's 1998 acquisition of the concept (matching this dataset's convention, used on the Play It Again Sports entry, of dating Winmark brands to Winmark's involvement rather than the original founder's start date); exact FDD issuance date wasn't independently confirmed -- verify directly against the DFPI's public franchise search before relying on this entry. You can pull the same filing yourself from the California DFPI's public franchise search. Filed 2026. None of this is investment advice -- get the franchisor's current FDD and talk to a real attorney or accountant before you sign anything.
If you see a different unit count elsewhere: franchisors only have to refile their FDD annually, so the numbers here can run 6–18 months behind a franchisor's own real-time marketing claims -- which often aren't independently verified, and sometimes count signed-but-not-yet-open locations. A gap isn't necessarily an error on either side; it's two different snapshots in time from two different sources.