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Rochester, MN (Grassroots Newswire) March 5, 2013 - With multiple workshops and one-on-one sessions with management focused on helping owners of Play It Again Sports franchisees buy more used sports equipment from local families, the 2013 Winter Conference and Trade Show from the sporting goods franchisor seemed to turn the usual trade show equation on its head. But local business representative Ron von Brethorst of Play It Again Sports of Rochester, located at 102 Elfton Hills Dr NW Suite 100, who recently returned from the event, held from February 19-22, 2013 in Orlando, FL, says that their business takes a different approach to success.



"We know how expensive it can be to keep a growing child outfitted with the necessary sporting gear and also how some 'bargain' used gear can turn out to be unsuitable or even unsafe," said von Brethorst. "That's why buying the used equipment the families in my community actually need is

key to the success of my store. At Play It Again Sports of Rochester, we take our responsibility to our local families very seriously. We want to be the place they can come to for deeply discounted prices on high quality, in-season new and used sports equipment that meets all current safety regulations - and also the place they can go to for a fair price on their outgrown equipment."



This year's conference marked the 30th anniversary of the Play It Again Sports brand. And, in keeping with the theme of the event, "Back to Basics," one of the key focus points for this year's conference was creating an exceptional shopping experience for all their customers and providing high value with their new and used products. In addition, there were workshops about how to get more quality used sports and fitness gear from their community in order to satisfy the growing demand.



All Play It Again Sports stores employ strategies for timing their purchases of new inventory and pricing current inventory to sell while styles and designs are still current. This focus on keeping store stock in synch with the latest sporting equipment trends and regulations is part

of what makes Play It Again Sports in Rochester such a reliable resource for local families, says von Brethorst.



Attendees benefited from several workshops and general sessions with guest speakers. They also learned how to apply the insights gained from 6,000 Play It Again Sports customers who completed an online survey to their own businesses. Survey responses highlighted demographic patterns for buying

and selling, competitor information, customer social media habits and store transaction experience ratings from customers representing more than 50 store locations in the US and Canada.



"This data gave us all a "window" into customer buying and selling expectations and habits that we can use to improve the individual customer experience in our own businesses," said von Brethorst.



For more information about Play It Again Sports of Rochester, located at 102 Elfton Hills Dr NW Suite 100, please contact Ron von Brethorst at rochpias@juno.com.



Play It Again Sports(r)

Play It Again Sports(r) leads the nation in the buying and selling of quality used sports and fitness equipment. There are over 300 franchised stores in the United States and Canada. Play It Again Sports buys, sells, and trades quality used and new brand name sports & fitness equipment.

Play It Again Sports is franchised by Winmark Corporation, which also franchises Once Upon A Child(r), Plato's Closet(r), and Music Go Round(r). For more information visit www.playitagainsports.com.





Winmark Corporation

Winmark Corporation, based in Minneapolis, creates, supports and finances business. Specializing in leasing and developing franchises for retail stores that buy, sell, and trade new and used merchandise, it is the parent company of Play It Again Sports(r), Once Upon A Child(r), Plato's

Closet(r), Music Go Round(r), Style Encore(tm), Wirth Business Credit(r), Winmark Capital(r) and www.WBSOnline.com. Winmark has more than 965 franchise territories and is publicly traded at (NASDAQ=WINA). For more information visit www.winmarkcorporation.com.