HAS CURVES FOR WOMEN ABANDONED ITS FRANCHISE OWNERS?
(FranchisePick.Com) FranchisePick.com is broadcasting remotely from Whitefish, MT this week. See our first transmission here: The New Frontier of Franchising: Whitefish, MT
Has Curves for Women deserted the franchise owners who built the startup into a 10,000 unit chain and global brand in order to cash in on more lucrative profit centers? That’s the contention of FranchisePick.com reader “Another Curves Owner” who left the following comment on a recent post on the Curves for Women franchise woes. What do you think? Leave a comment below.
AUTHOR: Another Curves Owner
To fellow ‘Curves Owner’,
I too own more then one Curves Franchise. While I agree that some clubs closed due to poor business practices, but that statement does not paint the true picture. Curves International itself is to blame for the vast amount of the closings in part due to: overbuilding, lack of support for the franchisees, lack of adverting and change of business model among others.
• Overbuilding
Curves has over saturated many markets to include where I have my clubs. Fact is in my state, the Sales Director never set foot not only in the cities where I have clubs but also in the state where they are located. At the Curves Convention of 2006 Gary Heavin (sic) the CEO stood before us and stated that many clubs were going to have to close due to the overbuilt system. He further stated that this was part of the so called, “franchise wars” in which he claimed victory. Furthermore, Curves International encouraged their franchisees to split their territories which further caused cannibalization.• Lack of Support
I cannot tell you how many times we have asked for help from Area Directors, Regional Directors, and Curves Corporate Officers for assistance. None of which have helped us in areas of; other owners advertising in our territories, offering corporate discounts to business in our territories, obtaining payments from transferred members from other clubs. The response we have received is either null or statements such as, “Try to get along with each other.” Fact is Curves has never taken a club away from an owner for breaking such rules. Now that this is know by owners, the owners pretty much do whatever it takes in order to survive. Can you blame them with the amount of overbuilding that Curves has done.• Lack of Adverting
Curves owners are required to pay 195 dollars a month for national and regional advertising. Lets do the math shall me? For 10,000 clubs that comes out to 1.95 million dollars a month for adverting or 22.8 million per year to be spent on advertising. That is an enormous amount of money. I have seem more advertising for franchises such as Subway and Jiffy Lube then from Curves.• Change of Business Model
The general public has become more aware of Curves for its energy bars and cereal then for fitness. Curves has changed direction with its partnership with General Mills. Fact is that Curves Owners can NOT get these products at discount rates. The owners have found that it is cheaper to obtain these products from the local supermarket or through Office Depot. Why is that? It is simple, Curves International new direction is now hard product based then through franchising.Lets face the hard truth. Curves club owners are in the fitness business. They are the ones who deliver the service of fitness and wellness. Curves International is in the Franchise business, a business of selling franchises to individuals which they have done very well in and made a lot of money. Now that that business model, of franchising a business concept has reached its peak, Curves International needs to find other ways to make money. The way Curves international has done this is though product promotions by having Curves owners promote non-Curves items in their clubs for other business. The Curves owners make no money on this but I seriously doubt that Curves International did this for free. Still not satisfied with that model, Curves international whipped up a receipt for an energy bar and a cereal, but their logo on it and with General Mills is now selling it to the general public. Oddly enough, not even Curves International franchisees can get the best price for these items. It is shocking that Curves franchisees can get it cheaper at the local grocery stores! Furthermore, Curves has partnered with Avon in selling Curves logo’d hard goods, specifically clothing items. That partnership with Avon has netted Curves International tens of millions of dollars annually. That is a fact, not a guess. Yet, each and every Curves owner has had difficulty in obtaining such items from Curves Intentional wholly owned subsidiary, “Ideas In Action”. Why is this? Probably because it is more lucrative for Curves International to sell through Avon..
This sad fact should be a wake up call that Curves International never did nor ever will value its franchises. The vast majority of the franchisees have worked very hard and many put their life savings into these businesses and built the name brand recognition that it now has. Now Curves International is cashing in on the brand name. But rather then share that with those who worked so hard and so long, Curves international has gotten greedy and built new relationships with others in order to squeeze what ever dollar it can make.
Curves no longer sells new territories in the US. Why is that? Two reasons really, first one is over saturation. But would Curves sell more territories if it could? Absolutely, but it does not. That brings us to the second reason why Curves has stopped selling franchises is the US – Lawsuits. Currently, Curves International along with Gary Heavin is being sued by no less the 350 angry broken franchisees and former franchisees for breach of contract and unfair trade. This number is growing and will continue to grow as the Curves continues to allow the system to implode and fail to repair their broken system.
For every one current operating successful Curves club there are literally dozens of unsuccessful clubs, meaning closed clubs or clubs bleeding money each and every month. Make no mistake, many owners lost tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds of thousands of dollars. The Curves landscape is littered with bankruptcies (both business and personal), lost homes, children removed from college due to losses, broken marriages and even one suicide.
This in not an invention of imagination or exaggeration, this is fact. This is fact that Howard Gary Heavin will have to answer for in a court of law.
WHAT DO YOU THINK? LEAVE A COMMENT BELOW.
Visit FRANBEST: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and and business opportunities.
Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.
Related Stories
POSTED IN: Curves For Women, xBuyer Beware
6 opinions for HAS CURVES FOR WOMEN ABANDONED ITS FRANCHISE OWNERS?
Marci
Feb 15, 2008 at 11:46 am
I owned two in the past and sold them for a huge loss. I blame Curves International. I have lots of reasons.
sean
Feb 16, 2008 at 12:42 pm
Marci:
What are some of the reasons?
curves owner
Feb 16, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Mr Foreclosure- If you were raking in 32K a month (1100 x $29) in just MEMBERSHIPS, not including new sales $$$$ (1100 x $100= $110,000.00), where were you spending it? Did you repay yourself? Did you sock some away for when the market would level off? No one should feel sorry for you if this is your story-you have left some information out. You made a TON of money! Members “stopped coming”???? ALL OF THEM? From 1100 to zero? Come on! You cannot think of ANYTHING you could have done to IMPROVE your business profits? Training? Education? Reduce your club size? Stopping your Escalade lease? (It’s like finding out WHY your complaining member is NOT losing weight-OH the nightly bowl of ice cream could be the culprit) I think business judgement might have something to do with your predicament. I don’t know! But I am tired of the Curves bashing.
Boredom? You are all too funny! EXERCISE IS BORING! Do gyms still have weights and treadmills? Are THEY cutting edge? Of course they are- they’ve been around FOREVER!!!!!!! Work on YOURSELF- meaning the STAFF, paint the club, ask other owners to come in and critique you to REALLY SEE WHAT A MEMBER SEES. CHANGE! There is PLENTY you can do AND stay within the Curves rules!
Buy a club in a town of 3,000? Who are your members and how many are there? Sustainability? How many clubs are/were around you? Cheap rent and 1 PT staffer with a FT owner can STILL make $$$$$ in a small town. Did someone hold a gun to your head and MAKE YOU PURCHASE YOUR CLUB THERE? Why did some buy a club with only a mile between you and the next club? You get to SEE YOUR TERRITORY before you fork over the cash!
How many franchises out there ONLY charge $195/395 or the small sliding percentage scale? Not too many. Do some homework! Curves Fees are CHEAP in comparison! Many owners are previous owners of OTHER franchises and think this is a GREAT DEAL. Taking about Curves corporate- also find out the “support” you get from OTHER franchises! Keep in mind-THIS IS STILL YOUR BUSINESS! CURVES ISN’T YOUR BOSS, GARY HEAVIN ISN’T YOUR BOSS! Curves took off like a rocket and they have been playing catch up- adding even MORE area directors and such. They have GREAT training. They have research at Baylor- they are constantly trying to improve the brand. Add ons like general Mills-how cool!!! Free advertising down the grocery aisle. Does the local weight watchers get $$ back from WW when food is SOLD in the grocery next door? No, but it helps strengthen the brand! Come on! THINK! All this whining about what is WRONG with Curves. There is a lot right! Last time I checked, this was a free country! get out of this then and do something else! the grass may or may NOT be greener. From my experience, this is a great business. Is it perfect? No, but you’ll never find perfection and if most of these bellyachers REALLY took stock to see that THEY might have had something to do with their predicament-instead of Curves, the list of REAL complaints would be small.
Poor judgement is not just reserved for some Curves owners (or business owners in general)-buy too big of a house with an adjustable mortgage? Credit card debt? Buy a new car instead of health insurance? Sock cash away for a rainy week? Buy a $30K car on credit? (depreciating before you even leave the car lot) I am NOT bashing people who get socked with cancer, or a family death, or some other circumstance beyond their control and left them unable to deal with unexpected debt, or whatever. No, this is for the “you made some bad decisions” crowd who instead of owning up to them, prefer to bash Curves who has created a service that was non-existent- and most definitely has SAVED lives because of their existence.
I had another (non franchise) business b4 Curves. You were ON YOUR OWN! In the 15 years I owned that, 5 similar businesses came and went around me. Businesses -go OUT of business- ALL THE TIME! Much do to POOR PLANNING AND UNDER CAPITALIZED. My previous business, as a lot of OTHER businesses cost tens of thousands of dollars- many over $100K to open, they have NO REVOLVING MEMBERSHIP each month you can count on. It takes YEARS for them to realize a profit. And it is WORK! Owning your own business in work. You get to clean the toilet, do the payroll AND show up as “president of your company” at the local chamber event!
How many are CONTINUING to learn? Are you taking classes, seminars to better yourself? A new resale next to me proclaimed after 2 months in this business-”THIS is a lot of work!” She thought she could show up at 9 and go home by 5. That’s doable-but having your own gig requires ingenuity and work. Yes, you can go home and take a nap without asking!!! And if you run, you can make a lot of cash instead of making someone else a lot of cash.
350Curves owners in a lawsuit? Let’s see. I PAY this lawyer $2500 and he’ll put me on the “list”. Yeah- the stupid list. Here you go, take my money. Class action suits never ask for $$$ up front. Looks like the same owners who are looking to sue are getting duped. Yawn- move on! You only have so many years to live, so find something better to do!
Maybe under 100 new clubs were opened this past year in the US/Canada, in areas where growth was experienced and needed a club as was stated at convention. There are approx 9000 curves in the US and Canada. More than Golds. More than Curves’ nearest competitor by 8x I’m guessing. are ALL 9,000 closing? Are ANY of them making $$$$$? Let me ask you this- is 30 minutes of exercise still in vogue- or do people nowadays have MORE TIME????
Is the population getting fatter or skinnier? Is LIFESTYLE diseases such as High BP and diabetes on the rise? I’m sorry to BURST your bubbles but CURVES is not obsolete!
A Quinznos, Cold Stone Creamery, 2 carpet dealers, a lot of builders,a karate gym, a jeweler, 3 bakery’s, an Ace hardware, a financial planner and so on have ALL gone out of business around me within the past year. Without knowing if there was personal tragedy, poor management skills, poor financial skills, bad business decisions and so forth who knows!? I do know this- we are in a business that works for those who WORK it. Look at every aspect and see where you can improve your club or improve upon the sellers ability if your looking to purchase. I would NOT listen to people on a list serve. Go and TALK to owners. Talk to a lot of them. Find a few of the thousands of successful owners, Ask them questions. There are a lot of terrible owners. So, find the successful ones and talk with them, what works and what doesn’t. Just moving from a bad location has made the difference of a successful club or not! We moved 1 mile and gained 150 new members. Who was to blame? Curves????? US!
Misery loves company and will bellyache all day long if given the ears to listen. Getting advice from PEOPLE YOU NEVER MET, DON’T KNOW THEIR CREDENTIALS, THEIR BUSINESS ACUMEN, COMMON SENSE OR WHAT EVER!!!! They may own a YUGO and live in a BOX. They’re a legend in their own mind! You may as well ask the Ouija board. Do your OWN homework! ask and ask and talk to REAL people. People on the internet can be anything you want them to be with NO ACCOUNTABILITY! I am always taller and skinnier on the internet! It’s amazing how smart and sharp you get in knowledge with that mouse in your hand!
Have a great day!
An imperfect owner of (2) 4 year old Curves.
carrie
Feb 28, 2008 at 8:34 pm
I have had my curves for 4 years and my experience has been horrible! I get no help from curves international, I have an attorney involved because I had inquired about closing my club since I was losing money, and the area director at that time took it upon themself to state to other clubs that I closed! I never signed an intent to close form and I had curves try to Bribe my royalties from me if I did not seek legal advice. What crap we all spend so much money to make this work and we get shut down, when this happend my potential seller backed out. I closed my club 2 weeks after this with the advice of the attorney since curves caused damage and we are waiting an answer.
Curves owner 3
Mar 13, 2008 at 3:52 pm
Everyone knows by now that most Curves clubs are really struggling. Too many, not enough corporate support, lack of advertising, etc. etc. I have a club in this category and contacted Curves in an attempt to close it. Many of my associates in neighboring towns have been allowed to close down with no penalty. I was advised I would have to pay $10,000 to close a club that makes NO MONEY! This, supposedly, is a new rule passed as of Feb. 1, 2008. How can this corporation decide who it will let sleep at night and who it will “crucify”. I’m sure Mr. Heavin, Christian that he is, will be quite familiar with the term “crucify”.
Another Curves Owner
Mar 14, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Curves Owner 3
You need to check your franchise agreement and get a lawyer. This is the first time I have ever heard of a club being charged any fee in order to close the club.
What Curves will try to do is have you sign a waiver in which they (Curves International) will not be held liable by you. Inotherwords, you are signing off your rights to sue them. DO NOT SIGN IT. If you do sign that, any litigation that you may try to file against them will be tossed out in court. Be aware that most likely, in the franchise agreement you are responsible to continue to you pay franchise fees and advertising fees for the term of your agreement or upon selling your club or territory. Curves international may come to you to buy your territory back from you for $1.00 and then slip that wavier in there, thereby signing away your rights. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING. Curves will also try to get you to send the equipment back to them, at your cost. DO NOT DO IT, the equipment is yours to do what you want with. My advice is to sell the equipment to other owners or donate it and take the tax advantage.
Finally, there is a group action lawsuit (not class action) against Curves International and Howard Heavin (his real first name). The firm representing the owners is headed by a man named Zarco. There website is http://www.zarcolawfirm.com. I cannot more strongly emphasize that you contact them as soon as possible
Have an opinion? Leave a comment: