MINNEAPOLIS , July 24 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Winmark Corporation (Nasdaq: WINA) announced the promotion of Merry Beth Hovey to the position of Vice President of Marketing.

Commenting on these promotions, President of Franchising, Steven A. Murphy stated, 'Merry Beth has provided tremendous value to Winmark and our 850+ franchises over the last year and a half. She has been instrumental in growing and enhancing our brand awareness in both our retail brands and our Wirth Business Credit brand nationally as well as at a local level for our franchise partners. Our franchise brands have experienced great success over the past few years, and we look forward to Merry Beth's continued expertise, commitment and dedication to our brands and our franchisees as we move forward.'

Winmark Corporation creates, supports and finances business. At June 30, 2007 , there were 843 franchises in operation under the brands Play It Again Sports(R), Once Upon A Child(R), Plato's Closet(R) and Music Go Round(R) and there were 26 territories in operation under the Wirth Business Credit(TM) brand. An additional 55 retail franchises and 4 Wirth territories have been awarded but are not open. In addition, at June 30, 2007 , the Company had loans and leases equal to $30.2 million .

SOURCE Winmark Corporation