Clothing retail franchises are great for the entrepreneur with a passion for fashion. Those who are fashion savvy and enjoy keeping up with the latest trends and styles will feel right at home with a clothing franchise. In addition, with the backing of a franchisor, they often find themselves in a better position to stay ahead of the competition as consumer taste shifts and trends change.
Learn more about this exciting piece of the franchise world!
The Clothing Franchise Industry
Retail clothing franchises largely fall into two broad categories: boutique and resell. Boutique franchises are typically small stores that sell first hand goods and cater to a certain subset of the population. Resell retail franchises offer “like new” or “gently used” clothing and accessories sold to them by customers, which the franchise then offers at a discounted rate to other customers.
Among the boutique clothing franchises, brands such as Apricot Lane Boutique and Mainstream Boutique lead the way.
Popular clothing resell franchises include: Children’s Orchard, Clothes Mentor, Kid to Kid, Once Upon A Child, Plato’s Closet, Style Encore, Uptown Cheapskate, and more.
Of Particular Note: The Popularity of Children’s Resell Clothing Franchises
Children grow up quickly, which means they need new clothes more often than adults. This fact has made retail stores featuring children's and baby apparel an especially popular specialty with the clothing franchise industry. More specifically, franchises that are popular in the children and baby clothing industry tend to be resell stores because customers are able to buy clothing for their kids cheaper and it won't break the bank when the kids grow out of the clothes they wear in as little as a few months.
Other Kinds of Clothing Franchises
Though boutique and resell retail are probably the two most popular categories in clothing franchising, there are many other areas prospective franchisees can go into that relate back to clothing.
One example is specialty retailers such as Pro Image Sports. “The largest franchised sports apparel retailer in America,” Pro Image Sports offers its customers a wide range of authentic and licensed sports apparel and novelty items like jerseys, hats and accessories.
Other examples include business services and marketing franchises that cater to people who need embroidered and other specialized clothing pieces. Opening a franchise in one of these areas would allow a franchisee to work in a form of clothing retail, but also have other income streams.
Franchises in this area include: Big Frog, Fully Promoted, and Instant Imprints.
Clothing-oriented franchises could also find themselves working the tangentially-related dry-cleaning franchise industry, helping people care for their clothing items as well.
Don’t Forget About the Shoes
A subset of clothing franchises, retailers focused on footwear have diversified from athletic shoe franchises like The Athlete’s Foot and Fleet Feet to now encompassing a variety of styles and specializations.
For example, did you know that there is more than one franchise dedicated to the flip flop? Meet Flip Flop Shops and FLIPS. Both cater specifically to the flip flop wearer, carrying upwards of 200+ selections to choose from.
In addition, there are franchises such as Foot Solutions that specialize in high performance footwear for customers with special needs.
There’s even a franchise now for fans of barefoot shoes: Groundies. The franchise is one of the fastest growing footwear brands in the world, and wants to “revolutionize the world of barefoot shoes and the entire shoe world.”
Initial Investment and Opening Costs for Clothing Franchises
The opening costs for prospective clothing retail franchisees can depend on many factors, including but not limited to: the business system and execution requirements, the size of the territory the franchisee desires, how large the franchisee’s store is, if the franchisee has a physical location, and more.
But don’t think that because you’re opening a clothing franchise that you’re restricted to a traditional, physical retail location.
As other franchise industries have, clothing franchisors have expanded offering beyond the traditional storefront. For instance, newer clothing franchise Traveling Chic Boutique offers the following franchise models:
- Trunk Show only
- Retail Store only
- Retail Store + Trunk Show
- Trunk Show with Airstream
Franchisors offer estimates in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD) based upon their experience establishing, and in some cases operating, units. However, prospective franchisees should keep in mind these estimates are just that—an estimate. Prospective franchisees should review the figures presented with a business advisor, taking into consideration their unique circumstances, before making the decision to enter into a franchise agreement.
Benefits of Being a Clothing Franchisee
The benefits of owning a franchise can be numerous vs. independent operation. Here are a few of the top benefits for those who decide to own a clothing retail franchise instead of going at it alone.
Name Recognition: When it comes to finding a service provider, people tend to deal with someone they have a familiarity with. Franchises tend to have established brand names that, in many instances, have been around for years. If you buy a clothing franchise, you will be given the right to associate your business with that franchise company's name, trademarks, and logo.
Advertising: Getting your name out there can be expensive and sometimes it can be hard to know where to spend your advertising and marketing budget. With a franchise, national advertising is typically done by the franchisor. In addition, though in general local advertising is up to you, you’ll have guidelines in place.
Training & Support: A popular feature with all franchises is the training provided. While in business, franchisees will have access to the franchisor’s operations manual, computer systems, and other items designed to help you successfully manage your retail franchise. Also, as mentioned earlier, the franchisor can be a huge help to franchisees in keeping up with seemingly ever-changing trends and styles.
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