Once Upon A ChildFranchise Cost, Revenue & Review 2026
Data from FDD filing + SBA 7(a) records
FranchiseVerdict summary · 2026
A Once Upon A Child franchise requires a total initial investment of $356K – $486K, including a $25K franchise fee and an ongoing 5.0% royalty[2]. Per the 2026 FDD, average unit revenue was $1.3M[2]. SBA 7(a) loans show a 3.6% charge-off rate across 228 loans[1]. Verdict grade: A. Run a live ROI scan →
Data last verified June 18, 2026 · figures per the 2026 FDD issuance
Overview
- Investment
- $356K – $486K
- 34th pct Retail
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- 16th pct Retail
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- 6th pct Retail
- Units
- 441
- 37th pct Retail
- SBA default
- 3.6%
- system-wide median varies by category
Quick verdict · Retail · color = vs category peers
Green = >15% above Retail avg · No shading = within ±15% · Red = >15% below avg · Source: FDD filings + SBA 7(a)
Data from public FDD filings and SBA records. Not financial advice. Methodology
Each dollar invested generates 3.0x in gross revenue, well above the typical 1.5-2.5x range.
Franchising since 1993. Systems this mature have refined operations and brand recognition.
Bottom line
- Total investment $356K – $486K including a $25K franchise fee, 5.0% ongoing royalty.
- Average unit revenue of $1.3M/year (median $1.2M).
- Verdict A (Top Quintile) with a risk score of 32/100. SBA loan charge-off rate of 3.6% across 228 loans (well below the franchise average, based on all SBA 7(a) franchise lending, 2010–2024).
Item 1 · who you're contracting with
The Franchisor
- Legal entity
- Winmark Corporation
- Incorporated in
- MN
- HQ
- 605 Highway 169 N, Suite 400, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55441
- Auditor
- Grant Thornton LLP
- Audited financials
- Franchisor revenue
- $81.3M
- vs $86.1M prior year
Independent franchisee associations
- Franchise Advisory Council (FAC)
Franchisee-led councils or alliances disclosed in Item 20. Indicates operator voice.
Overview
About
Once Upon A Child franchisees operate consignment and retail stores selling gently used children's clothing, toys, furniture, and gear. Day-to-day operations include inventory acquisition (consignment negotiations with parents), merchandise pricing and display, point-of-sale transactions, consignor payment processing, and store staffing. Success depends on foot traffic, local market density of families with young children, and effective inventory turnover.
- CEO
- Brett D. Heffes
- Headquarters
- MN
- Founded
- 1988
- FDD year
- 2026
- States available
- 46
FDD Item 7 · 2026 filing · 12 line items
Initial investment breakdown
| Line item | Low | High | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Initial Franchise Feenot refundable | $25K | $25K | |
| Fixtures and Supplies | $60K | $75K | |
| Signs | $10K | $15K | |
| Security System and/or Cameras | $2K | $4K | |
| Point-of-Sale (POS) Systemnot refundable | $23K | $31K | |
| Leasehold Improvements | $11K | $21K | |
| Build-Out | $35K | $55K | |
| Deposits and Business Licenses | $5K | $15K | |
| Opening Inventory | $75K | $85K | |
| Miscellaneous Pre-Opening Expenses | $50K | $80K | |
| Rent - First 3 Months | $20K | $30K | |
| Additional Funds - 3 Monthsnot refundable | $40K | $50K | |
| Total initial investment | $356K | $486K |
Line items extracted from FDD Item 7. Ranges reflect the franchisor's stated low and high per line. Total is the sum of line-item lows / highs — actual costs may fall outside this range depending on market and build-out scope.
Single-unit · estimated
Returns at a glance
Indicative numbers using FDD Item 7 / Item 19 inputs and category-benchmarked cost ratios. Full single-unit, 25-unit portfolio, and LBO models (with every input editable to stress-test your own scenario) live on the financials page.
Store EBITDA · annual
$89K
7.0% margin
Unlevered ROIC
19%
EBITDA / total invested capital
Payback
5.2 yrs
cash-on-cash, unlevered
Item 7 · what it costs to open + operate
The Vitals
- Total investment
- $356K – $486K
- Better than avg vs category
- Liquid capital req'd
- $40K – $50K
- Better than avg vs category
- Franchise fee
- $15K – $25K
- Better than avg vs category
- Royalty
- 5.0%
- percentage_of_gross · typical 6–8%
- Ad fund
- 3.0%
- typical 3–5%
- Total fee load
- 8.0%
- vs 9–13% typical
Ongoing fees · Item 6
| Fee | Amount |
|---|---|
| Royalty | 5.0% of gross sales |
| Marketing / ad fund | 3.0% of gross sales |
| Technology fee | $3K |
| Transfer fee | $10K |
| Renewal fee | $10K |
| Inventory (initial) | $75K – $85K |
| Total fee load | 8.0% of rev |
Financial Performance
- Avg gross sales
- $1.3M
- Per unit, per year
- Median gross sales
- $1.2M
- Item 19 type
- Average Annual Sales and Gross Profit
- Sample size
- 408 units
- vs category median 49 · large
- Range (low → high)
- $269K→$3.7M
- Cohort dispersion (min → max)
- Quartile band
- $689K→$2.0M
- Bottom 25% → top 25%
- Transparency tier
- full
- Categorical assessment of disclosure depth
- Reporting year
- 2025
- Fiscal year the figures cover
- Transparency
- 6 / 5
- vs category median 2 / 5 · above
Compared against 304 Retail brands
vs Retail averages
How Once Upon A Child Compares
Unit growth
Item 20 · unit dynamics
The Growth Chart
- Total units
- 441
- Opened
- 17
- Last reporting year
- Closed
- 6
- Turnover rate
- 1.4%
- Company-owned
- 0
- Corporate units in the system
- % franchised
- 100%
- vs corporate-owned
- Net growth (yr3)
- +2.6%
- Net unit change last year
- 3-yr CAGR
- +6.0%
- Compounded over last 3 years
3-year detail · Item 20
- Transfers (3yr)
- 15
Year-over-year franchised unit counts and net change. Source: FDD Item 20.
Item 20 · 11 states with active franchisees
The Territory Map
Derived from franchisee contact records. Shows states with at least one current operator. Not where the franchisor is registered to sell new units (that data is re-extracting in a future refresh).
States derived from franchisee contact records (FDD Item 20). Shows states with at least one current operator on file. Full state registration data (Item 12) will appear on a future FDD refresh.
SBA loan performance
Government records
SBA Loan Data
Aggregated from SBA 7(a) and 504 loan disclosures, public data unique to FranchiseVerdict.
- Total loans
- 228
- Loan volume
- $48.9M
- Median loan
- $178K
- 50th percentile
- Charge-off rate
- 3.6%
- rates vary by category · see methodology
Historical SBA 7(a) lending data, not predictive of future performance. How SBA charge-off rates are calculated
- Repayment rate (PIF)
- 96.4%
- 5-yr charge-off
- 0.0%
- Loans approved 2021+
- Active lenders
- 108
- Defaults
- 6
Vintage analysis
Once Upon A Child charge-off rate by loan vintage
Explore lender portfolios on Bank Reports or regional data on State Reports.
Premium insight
SBA Lending Report
Deep-dive into Once Upon A Child's SBA lending history: lender network, geographic footprint, interest rates, and more.
SBA Lending Report
- Principal loss rate and NAICS industry benchmark
- 10 lenders with concentration factor
- Per-state charge-off rates across 15 states
- Startup risk premium and job creation velocity
- 34-year lending trend
- SBA 504 real estate/equipment data
Instant access. No subscription.
Risk analysis
FranchiseVerdict rating + FDD Items 3, 5, 6, 12, 17
Risk & Legal
Moderate-to-caution risk profile: respectable revenue scale but anemic growth, missing profitability disclosure, and high capital requirement demand thorough franchisee reference validation before commitment.
Litigation (Item 3)
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Bankruptcy (Item 4)
None disclosed
Audited financials (Item 21)
Yes · Grant Thornton LLP
Franchisor revenue (Item 21)
Franchisor entity revenue (not unit-level)
Supplier relationship · Items 8 & 16
- Franchisor sells you products: No
- Must buy proprietary products: No
- Restricted to system-approved products: No
Score breakdown · what drove the 32 / 100 rating
- 01MEDNet income not disclosed in Item 19 — unable to verify profitability claims against $1.27M average revenue
- 02MINORSlow unit growth of 2.6% YoY suggests market saturation or franchisee underperformance in used children's goods retail
- 03MINORHigh initial investment ($355K-$486K) combined with no Item 19 financials creates visibility gap on ROI timeline
- 04MINORUsed goods retail model is margin-sensitive and vulnerable to economic downturns and consumer spending shifts
- 05HIGHNo 'going concern' flag is positive, but lack of net income data prevents assessment of unit-level sustainability
Severity inferred from the FDD text · not a regulatory classification
FDD Items 5, 6, 12, 17 · continued from Risk & Legal
Contract & Territory Detail
| Initial term | 10 years |
|---|---|
| Renewal term | 10 years |
| Territory type | Radius |
| Protected territory | Yes |
| Online sales rights | Granted |
| Franchisor can compete | Yes |
| Hire a manager? | Allowed |
| Owner-operator | Required |
| Non-compete (years)ℹ | 2 years |
| Right of first refusalℹ | Yes |
| Termination notice | 30 days |
| Mandatory arbitration | Yes |
| Jury trial waiver | Yes |
| Governing law | State where store is located |
| Litigation count | 0 |
View Item 3 litigation summary
0 case reference(s): 0 pending, 0 settled.
Items 10, 11
Training & Operations
- Classroom training
- 41 hrs
- On-the-job training
- 19 hrs
- Training location
- On-site and off-site
- Franchisor financing
- Offered
- Item 10
- POS system
- Winmark Proprietary Software
- Operating tech stack
Items 5 & 11
Franchisor Support
Technology: Winmark Proprietary Software
Item 20 · call current owners
Franchisee Contacts
99 owners to call
Name · phone · city · state. Extracted from FDD Item 20
FDD download
Once Upon A Child · FDD (2026) PDF
Frequently asked questions
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does it cost to open a Once Upon A Child franchise?
The total investment to open a Once Upon A Child franchise ranges from $356K – $486K, with an initial franchise fee of $25K. This includes real estate, equipment, inventory, and working capital as disclosed in their Franchise Disclosure Document (FDD).
What do Once Upon A Child franchise owners earn?
According to Item 19 of the Once Upon A Child FDD, the average gross sales per unit is $1.3M. The median is $1.2M. Note: this is gross revenue, not profit. Actual owner earnings vary based on location, operating costs, and management.
What is Once Upon A Child's franchise failure rate?
Based on SBA 7(a) loan data, Once Upon A Child has a charge-off rate of 3.6% across 228 loans, meaning 3.6% of franchise loans were charged off. Charge-off rates are one proxy for franchise risk, though they do not capture all closures. This data comes from FOIA-sourced SBA lending records.
How many Once Upon A Child franchise locations are there?
As of their most recent FDD filing, Once Upon A Child has 441 total units in the United States, including 416 franchised units and 0 company-owned units. 17 new units were opened in the latest reporting year.
Is Once Upon A Child a good franchise to buy?
FranchiseVerdict rates Once Upon A Child as a A-grade franchise with a risk score of 32 out of 100, based on our analysis of investment costs, revenue data, SBA loan performance, and growth trends. Our rating is based solely on publicly available FDD and government data; we recommend speaking with current franchisees before making any investment decision. This is not investment advice.
Data sourced from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) FOIA records. Not financial advice.
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Data extracted from public FDD filings and SBA 7(a) loan disclosures (FOIA). This information is provided for research purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Verify all figures with the franchisor's current Franchise Disclosure Document before making any investment decision.