Top Retail Franchises
Standing Out
Beth Ewen
Four concepts in the eclectic retailing category, which includes everything from clothing to convenience stores to furniture to hardware, stand out in a good way with double-digit gains in systemwide sales. Circle K jumps up 22 percent. Woof Gang Bakery boosts sales 29 percent. uBreakIFix, a personal technology repair store, again tops our leader board with a 26.5 percent sales increase. Nothing Bundt Cakes chimes in with a 23.4 percent gain. Then there is the double-digit standout in the other direction, with Edible Arrangements down 11.8 percent after a year of turmoil in the c-suite and agitated franchisees suing the brand. Woof Gang Bakery’s CEO Paul Allen said his pet store franchise’s morph toward grooming services is the main reason behind the gains. “We understood that the industry was changing and we’ve changed with it as it happened,” he said. Woof Gang had as much as 80 percent of sales from retail, and today that’s down to 40 percent as 60 percent comes from grooming.
| Clothing | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | Rank '20 | Franchise Concept | Global Sales ($M) | Sales Growth % |
| 1 | 500 | Rhea Lana's | 20 | 20.2% |
| 2 | 386 | Uptown Cheapskate | 61 | 14.9% |
| 3 | 453 | Big Frog Custom T-Shirts | 33 | 12.4% |
| 4 | 410 | Style Encore | 49 | 11.4% |
| 5 | 390 | Kid to Kid | 59 | 10.1% |
| 6 | 448 | Just Between Friends | 35 | 9.5% |
| 7 | 185 | Once Upon A Child | 376 | 7.4% |
| 8 | 156 | Plato's Closet | 516 | 5.5% |
| 9 | 469 | Mainstream Boutique | 29 | -1.5% |
| Convenience Stores | ||||
| Rank | Rank '20 | Franchise Concept | Global Sales ($M) | Sales Growth % |
| 1 | 10 | Circle K | 12,458 | 22.0% |
| 2 | 2 | 7-Eleven | 89,000* | 3.5% |
| 3 | 83 | ampm | 1,400 | 1.4% |
| Home improvement/Hardware | ||||
| Rank | Rank '20 | Franchise Concept | Global Sales ($M) | Sales Growth % |
| 1 | 130 | Matco Tools | 682* | 3.3% |
| 2 | 5 | Ace Hardware | 17,006 | 2.2% |
| 3 | 441 | DreamMaker Bath & Kitchen | 36 | 0.7% |
| 4 | 78 | Snap-on Tools | 1,650 | 0.0% |
| Phone/Technology | ||||
| Rank | Rank '20 | Franchise Concept | Global Sales ($M) | Sales Growth % |
| 1 | 243 | UBREAKIFIX | 205 | 26.5% |
| 2 | 141 | Wireless Zone | 570 | 4.7% |
| 3 | 138 | Batteries Plus Bulbs | 579 | -3.2% |
| 4 | 482 | Experimax | 25 | -19.7% |
| Specialties | ||||
| Rank | Rank '20 | Franchise Concept | Global Sales ($M) | Sales Growth % |
| 1 | 196 | Nothing Bundt Cakes | 352 | 23.4% |
| 2 | 494 | The Spice & Tea Exchange | 22 | 13.6% |
| 3 | 282 | Metal Supermarkets | 153 | 8.7% |
| 4 | 202 | Pinch A Penny | 326 | 8.6% |
| 5 | 247 | Wild Birds Unlimited | 191 | 7.9% |
| 6 | 99 | Pet Supplies Plus | 1,047 | 5.5% |
| 7 | 405 | Christmas Decor | 51 | 4.9% |
| 8 | 444 | Music Go Round | 35 | 2.9% |
| 9 | 231 | Play It Again Sports | 227 | 1.8% |
| 10 | 174 | HoneyBaked Ham | 446 | 1.2% |
| 11 | 324 | Great Harvest Bread Co. | 101 | -1.4% |
| 12 | 315 | HobbyTown | 111 | -1.5% |
| 13 | 188 | Slumberland | 372 | -4.3% |
| 14 | 59 | GNC | 2,400* | -5.0% |
| 15 | 376 | Fast-Fix Jewelry and Watch Repairs | 66 | -6.3% |
| 16 | 175 | Edible Arrangements | 442 | -11.8% |
| 17 | 365 | Learning Express Toys | 72 | -12.7% |
| 18 | 440 | Foot Solutions | 36 | -27.5% |
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