The Decision To Move From Single Unit to Multi-Unit Franchisees - Meet The Kemps
| Play It Again Sports |
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| Franchise Interviews Meets with Multi-Unit Franchisees The Kemps |
We have a great show today. We are meeting with multi-unit franchisees and husband and wife team Mike
and Shannon Kemp. Mike and Shannon speak about what it takes to be multi-unit franchisees, how/when they knew they
were ready to expand beyond one brand/unit and their entrepreneurial advice on growing and investing in a franchise system
for more than 20 years. Here's quick background on them:
In 1994, Mike was working part-time as an employee for
Play It Again Sports the store buys and sells quality, gently-used sports equipment and gear (the franchise
currently has more than 300 franchised stores in the U.S. and Canada). After Mike was brought on as regional general manager
for the owner and helped him open six additional Play It Again Sports across North Carolina, he decided to go into business
for himself. In 2003, Mike opened his own Play It Again Sports in Winston-Salem, and later went on to open
up a second location in Greensboro.
| Style Encore |
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| Style Encore was a great fit for the Kemps. |
That's when Shannon Kemp's wheels started turning. She saw her husband's success and saw the other sister
brand stores, Plato's Closet and Once Upon A Child, expanding in the community as well. Plato's Closet is the same frugal
recycling concept as Play It Again Sports but centers around clothing, shoes and accessories and is catered toward teens while
Once Upon A Child caters to the kid demographic. Shannon wanted to bring something for women in the community and decided
to bring the missing sister brand Style Encore to Winston-Salem in 2014. Most recently, she will be celebrating the grand
opening of a second Style Encore in Greensboro.In part 2, we meet with a legend
in franchising, Lawrence Doc Cohen. Doc Cohen discusses why he choose franchising as opposed to starting
his own concept.
