Richard and Margarette Baze own three top-performing Uptown Cheapskate stores in Oklahoma. They're planning to open two more in their homestate in the next year or two.
The husband-wife team of Richard and Margarette Baze are top performers in the thrift store franchise’s system while the parent company, BaseCamp Franchising, is posting double-digit annual sales growth across its two brands.
When Richard and Margarette Baze became Uptown Cheapskate franchisees in 2015, they recalled there being a stigma about shopping at thrift stores. Many consumers avoided them, the Bazes said, because they didn’t want to be seen hunting for secondhand clothes.
“It isn’t like that so much now with things getting tighter for families and retail clothing prices going ridiculously higher,” Richard Baze said. “Shopping in our boutique thrift stores has become more accepted and even trendy, especially among young people who are looking for name brand clothes at great prices.”
With three stores in Oklahoma, a fourth scheduled to open in September and No. 5 planned for Yukon in the next year or two, the Bazes believe they’re positioned well no matter the direction of the jittery economy. They’re seeing increased sales at all their stores and are among the top performers for the retail resale brand that targets a 14- to 35-year-olds.
BaseCamp Franchising owns Uptown Cheapskate and Kid to Kid, which sells secondhand clothes, toys and accessories for children up to 14 years old.
The Baze’s Uptown Cheapskate stores in Edmond, Norman and Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, each generate at or near $2 million in sales annually, placing them in the top 10 percent of the BaseCamp system.
Uptown Cheapskate, which was founded in 2008, has 143 stores open in the United States.
BaseCamp Franchising, meanwhile, grew sales by 12 percent to exceed $250 million in revenue across its two brands in 2024, said Tyler Gordon, who is co-CEO with his brother, Zach. The two partnered with BaseCamp’s founding Sloan family in 2022 to lead the company. Zach Gordon was senior director of strategic planning at Restaurant Brands International, the parent company of Burger King, Popeyes, Tim Hortons and Firehouse Subs, while Tyler Gordon was a private equity investor.
Uptown Cheapskate, which was founded in 2008, has 143 stores. Kid to Kid, founded in 1992, has 121 stores in more than 30 states. BaseCamp has 20 Kid to Kid stores in Portugal and one in Spain and has plans to open 30 to 40 domestic stores of its two brands this year and 50 more in 2026, said Tyler Gordon.
The investment range for an Uptown Cheapskate franchise is $382,002 to $596,502; the cost to open a Kid to Kid store is $326,502 to $587,302, according to their respective franchise disclosure documents. The average unit volume for Uptown Cheapskate is $1.3 million; Kid to Kid reported an AUV of $938,483
While a typical Uptown Cheapskate store is about 4,200 square feet, the Bazes said their two new stores in North Oklahoma City and Yukon will come in closer to 10,000 square feet.
Brothers Zach, left, and Tyler Gordon share CEO duties at BaseCamp Franchising which owns resale clothing brands Uptown Cheapskate and Kid to Kid.
“Whether you’re looking at same-store sales across both of our concepts or looking at our grand opening results, we’re setting records every single month and that’s because we’re being very intentional and thoughtful in growing right by selecting the right franchisees we bring into our system and those who are already in the system who want to expand their business,” Tyler Gordon said.
“Richard and Margarette are the perfect example of what to look for in franchisees. They are skillful operators who are in their stores all the time, meticulously tracking their inventory and keeping everything running real well,” he said.
When the Bazes shopped around for a thrift store brand to invest in 10 years ago, Uptown Cheapskate had 65 stores. After visiting a store in Arlington, Texas, and meeting with corporate, they “fell in love instantly with the look of the store and the leadership,” said Margarette Baze.
“It’s nothing like Plato’s Closet, whose stores all look exactly the same inside with the same boring fixtures,” she said. “We buy our custom-made fixtures that look so much nicer and give our stores a real bright, clean, welcoming feel. It’s like night and day.”
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“That’s the great thing about Uptown Cheapskate. They allow us to put our own personal touch to our stores while providing us a good, profitable operating business model to work with. I can’t say enough about the company’s leadership and support,” added Richard Baze, who praised the company-wide policy that any items not sold are donated to local charities.
The Bazes also praised BaseCamp’s proprietary software, Baseline, which provides guidance on what to pay for used clothes and what to price them at. They also talked about the camaraderie they’ve fostered with their fellow Uptown Cheapskate franchisees. They traveled with several store owners to Austin, Texas, in February—on their own dime—to attend a grand opening of a new store.
“You have to be very competitive to do well in the retail business, but at the same time, it’s really important to show your support for each other. We really want everyone in the system to succeed and because of that, it feels like a fraternity,” Richard Baze said.
Uptown Cheapskate franchisees Richard and Margarette Baze, far right, and CEO Tyler Gordon, far left, attended the grand opening of a Austin, Texas store earlier this year.