The Clothes Mentor management team has more than 80 years of franchise and retail industry experience in the resale niche. This experience will help you to maximize your investment and reach your business goals.
Ron Olson has been President and a Director of NTY Franchise Company since October 2006. Ron's background included starting his career at Dayton’s Department Store, where he held many management positions. In 1977 he opened his own furniture store in Minnesota, which was a Drexel Heritage prototype store. In 1988 he co-founded Grow Biz International, now called Winmark. The first franchise rights that Olson purchased and started marketing was Play It Again Sports. Olson continued buying the Franchise rights for Once Upon A Child, Plato’s Closet, and Music Go Round. Today there over 1,000 Franchise locations.
Under NTY Franchise Company, the franchise rights were bought for Clothes Mentor and New Uses. In 2013 Olson bought Laptop Exchange and changed the name to Device Pitstop. In 2014 the company opened NTY Clothing Exchange and NTY Kids, now Children's Orchard. There are currently 204 stores sold and 133 stores opened under the NTY Franchise umbrella.
Chad Olson has been Chief Operations Officer of NTY Franchise Company since January 2007. From May 1994 to December 2006, he held various positions for Winmark Corporation (f/k/a Grow Biz International, Inc.), including Field Operations Manager for the Once Upon a Child concept from 1999 to 2002, and Regional Operations Manager for the Plato’s Closet concept from 2002 to 2006.
James Wollman has been Vice President of Franchising for NTY Franchise Company since January 2007. From April 2004 to December 2006, he was Director of Franchising for Dunn Brothers' Coffee Franchising, Inc. located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. From December 1991 to April 2004, he served in franchise sales and development for Winmark Corporation (f/k/a Grow Biz International, Inc.), located in Golden Valley, Minnesota.
Ted Manley is the Vice President of Clothes Mentor. He has been Vice President of Clothes Mentor since November 2013. Ted has held many management positions with Grow Biz International, now called Winmark. He was President of all Winmark Brands, including Once Upon a Child, Plato’s Closet, Music Go Round, and Play It Again Sports. There are currently over 1,000 locations for the four brands.
Jake Halbert is the Senior Regional Operations Manager for Clothes Mentor. He currently consults to stores in the Northeast part of the United States. He received a Sales and Marketing Management Degree in 2003 from South Central College in North Mankato, Minnesota. Jake’s work history includes 15 years of retail experience. He has worked directly with franchisees in resale retail successfully driving sales/profits for over 8 years.
Dan Goetz is the Regional Operations Manager for Clothes Mentor in the West Region. Previous to joining the Clothes Mentor Corporate staff in February of 2014, he worked in leadership positions with Aèropostale, Old Navy, Gap, Banana Republic, and Target stores. He attended the University of Minnesota-Duluth and St. Cloud State University. He brings a strong background in Operations, Merchandising, and Human Resources to the Clothes Mentor team.
Amy Donnelly is the Regional Operations Manager for Clothes Mentor’s Southeast Region. Prior to joining Clothes Mentor in 2013, she spent 8 years in retail management with Limited Brands. Amy holds a BA degree.
Courtney Holmer is a Regional Operations Manager for Clothes Mentor. She was previously the New Store Coordinator for Clothes Mentor starting in 2012. Prior to that, she spent 18 months in management at the company owned store. Courtney attended both UW-Stout and AIU in London, England for Fashion Merchandising and Buying. She started with Clothes Mentor in 2009 as a store intern also designing Clothes Mentor trend guides and other training materials used in the franchise system.
Heather Ellingsen is the Regional Operations Manager for Clothes Mentor's Mid-Atlantic region. She joined Clothes Mentor in December 2014. Heather has over 25 years of retail experience from Maurice's, Kohl’s, and Macy’s. She brings a strong background in multi-unit management, operations, merchandising, and human resources to the Clothes Mentor team. Heather holds a BS in Retail Management and Merchandising from the University of North Dakota.
Glenn Levine is the Regional Operations Manager for Clothes Mentor’s North East region. He joined Clothes Mentor in January of 2017, bringing with him over 15 years of experience in multi-unit retail management and franchise business management with Family Dollar, Dollar General, Arby’s and Subway. He is a US Navy veteran and holds a BA from the University of Minnesota and well as an MA in Management from Concordia University in St. Paul.
Jessie Nalezny is the Director of Marketing for NTY Franchise Company and the newest marketing team member, starting in January 2017. Prior to joining NTY Franchise company, Jessie spent the last three years at International Dairy Queen where most recently she was the Director of Product and Brand Marketing managing the food category for the United States. She brings 9 years of marketing experience working in a variety of industries and marketing functions.
Watch this video to learn more about how our experienced team helps Clothes Mentor franchisees succeed: