Winmark Corp., the parent of Play It Again Sports, reported net income rose 4.5 percent in the first quarter ended March 30 on a 0.9 percent sales gain.
The franchisor also operates the Once Upon A Child, Style Encore and Music Go Round chains.
Earnings rose to $7.3 million, or $1.73 a share, from $6.96 million, or $1.69, a year ago.
Revenues reached $18.3 million against $18.16 million the year-ago quarter. Royalty revenues were up 6.4 percent to $11.76 million. Leasing income was down slightly to $5.16 million from $5.53 million.
Brett D. Heffes, Winmark’s CEO, commented, “Our first quarter results were positively impacted by the performance of our franchisees, offset by lower activity in our leasing business.”
At March 30, there were 1,241 franchises in operation under the brands Plato’s Closet, Once Upon A Child, Play It Again Sports, Style Encore and Music Go Round. An additional 46 retail franchises have been awarded but are not open. In addition, at March 30, 2019, the company had a lease portfolio of $35.1 million.
Winmark’s recently-filed annual report shows Play It Again Sports had 281 stores open at the close of 2018 against the same 281 the prior year. Six stores opened and six closed. Play It Again Sports was estimated to have total 2018 system-wide sales of $223 million in 2018, the same as the prior year.
