Why Disc Replay

We didn't build Disc Replay to look good on a franchise disclosure document. We built it because four of us were already running these stores, already loved the business, and wanted a franchisor that actually understood what a Tuesday afternoon on the sales floor feels like. Here's what multiple decades of doing this ourselves taught us about building a franchise worth joining.

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Our Story

Four Franchisees Got Together and Became the Franchisor

Collectively, the four franchisees own 25+ Disc Replays

In 1994, John Chesny opened the very first Disc Replay in Downers Grove, Illinois — armed with a card table, 2,700 used CDs, and a $99 cash register. He sold six CDs on day one and went home devastated. He kept showing up anyway. That refusal to quit, and his belief that every customer deserved to be treated right, became the foundation Disc Replay was built on. Three decades, one Super Mega Replay experiment, and dozens of stores later, John was ready to pass the torch. Instead of selling to an outside investor, he handed the brand to four people who already lived it: franchisees Nick Leja, Nathan Abner, Chad Capista, and Jesse Hayes, who together own more than 25 Disc Replay stores. Collectively, they've made hiring mistakes, survived the slow Tuesdays, and figured out the hard parts firsthand — which is exactly why they took the wheel: to build the kind of franchisor support only possible from those who have actually lived in the trenches.

The four Disc Replay founders around a conference table

What Makes Disc Replay Different

Franchisee-First, By Design

We built our investment structure, our POS technology, and our support systems around one goal: your bottom line. Not just top-line growth; actual, sustainable profitability for the owner in the store.

A Recession-Resistant, Amazon-Resistant Category

Resale thrives when budgets tighten, and our in-person, treasure-hunt experience is something no online marketplace can fully replicate. It's a business built to hold up in good years and bad.

Run By Operators, Not Just Franchisors

Our leadership team still owns and operates more than 25 Disc Replay stores. We're not managing your business from a spreadsheet. We're in the trenches with you, because we're in ours too.

30 Years of Proof

Disc Replay has weathered three decades of retail disruption, recessions, and format changes — and come out stronger every time. That's a track record you can build a business on.

Our Values

Everything we do as a franchisor traces back to a handful of values our leadership team lives by because we're franchisees too.

Radical Honesty and Transparency

We tell you what you need to hear, not just what sounds good: about the numbers, the challenges, and what it really takes to run a Disc Replay.

Resilient Optimism

Retail has hard days. We've had plenty of them ourselves, and we bring the same show-up-anyway mindset to supporting you through yours.

Empathetic Listener

We've stood behind the counter. When you tell us something isn't working, we listen like people who've lived it. Because we have.

Curious and Adaptive

The entertainment resale category keeps evolving, from vinyl's comeback to trading cards' resurgence, and so do we — always testing, learning, and improving the model.