CURVES FRANCHISE OWNERS: Share Your Story Here
July 15, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
Curves franchise owners and ex-franchise owners:
What’s it like to own a Curves for Women franchise?
Was it a good investment decision? Was the Curves franchise ownership what you expected?
Has it enriched you financially? Emotionally?
Would you recommend the Curves franchise to would-be franchise owners?
SHARE YOUR STORY, EXPERIENCES, INSIGHTS WITH A COMMENT.
Let me preface by saying that I think that the lack of support reported here, the franchisee-unfriendly policies and the sale of Curves franchises in markets too small to support a club are reprehensible.
However, how many of the failed and failing clubs would have succeeded if CI had been more franchisee friendly, supportive and Christian?
I think what’s problematic is that it seems to me that the basic business model is not sustainable. All of these 30 Minute Workout concepts are struggling – Contours, Butterfly Life, 1-2-3 Fit. Isn’t the real problem that couch potatoes eventually find their way back to the couch – making renewals an impossible dream? Add in a ridiculous amount of competition for too few potatoes and it’s a recipe for failure.
Even if it’s a given that CI’s a lousy franchisor, can franchisees really prove that they failed as a result and not just that the bandwagon they hopped on was a passing fad?
I think the fundamental problem was that this was a new concept that hadn’t stood the test of time. Gangbusters in the first few years, but no one predicted the fall-off in renewals, or what effect the worsening economy might have.
Can Curves franchisees prove CI set them up to fail? Or don’t they, legally, have to?
Sean,
In the almost 3 years I have owned my resale, someone from corporate came in ONCE. She wasn’t even the NJ Area Director. She was the Connecticut Area Director Karin Cumin. She came over and came in. She tooks pictures. She watched to see if my employees were telling members if they were doing anything wrong. She was watching the ladies form to see if we taught them correctly. She also had me do a spareadsheet to see if my club was profitable. It was in the green $5.00 That was WITHOUT taking out my other expenes such as BJS Wholesale shopping or NJ Sales tax of 7% every month. It was NEVER in the green since I bought it. She made some comment about making the club a SHINING STAR CLUB (All BS). She also tried to force us to buy SMART. We told her NO. She also wanted us to give two months free away to strangers just to get them in the door. She was talking about spending money to make money. We told her you cant spend what you dont have. We had an answer for everything. She didnt like it. As she was leaving, she told us she was going to give our information back to our area director so she could devise a game plan for us. We NEVER heard from her about her game plan. I contacted her months later and said so what happened to the game plan. Her suggestion was to mail 100s of Gift Certifucates to the district school systems to let the women try out the workout. So i did. Her big philosophy was after they try it they will sign up. Out of the 98 giftcertificates i mailed, maybe 10 teachers utilized their two months. out of the 10, I think two signed up month to month after the GC expired.
They do not care about franchisees. it’s about the almighty dollar going into their wallet and that’s it. I plan on contacting the FTC, the BBB, the Attorney General etc. My attorney agrees.
Sean wouldn’t encroachment problems be a good case? It shows the zor does not care about their zees. It also shows they are into selling franchises. Curves worked for me for three years. Especially if you are a busy person.
Apparently, encroachment is legal when territories are not granted or spelled out within the actual franchise agreement and UFOC/FDD.
Remember that franchisors take their profits on the gross sales of units and two units at break-even or less may mean more for them than one unit standing at a profit. If one of the units ujpon which there is encroachment goes out of business, this unit can be acquired cheaply by the other and thus the process of churning continues to feed the franchisor’s profits.
Does anyone know the name of Curves Corporate’s attorney and how to reach him/her? Telephone number? Email address? Direct mailing address? I need it for my attorney ASAP. Thanks.
North Jersey Curves Owner—
Does your attorney want the name of the Corporate INHOUSE attorney — or the Law Firm that is representing Curves in the action filed by Curves litigants in the federal court in Waco?
In either case, the attoney you saw yesterday knows how to talk to the attorneys but maybe he is KIND and he won’t charge you for looking up the number for him and only charge you for the conversation he has with the In-House Attorney.
Unfortunately, in terminations, the franchisor always insists on conducting the termination through YOUR attorney and this is just more expense for you, etc…that makes you even more vulnerable and doesn’t generally change things for the better for you.
Do your Homework! You are smart —you figured it out —How much per hour is your attorney charging you?
He’s not charging us to send the letter or make the phone call. I want the in house attorney’s name and number.
North Jersy Curves Owner —
Curves International is at 100 Ritchie Rd., in Waco, Texas. Their 800 number is 1-800-848-1096 BUT if you can’t get through to InHouse Legal through this number, just go to Information and ask for the telephone number of Curves at this address. When you get the Switchboard, just ask for LEGAL.
Good Luck!
Carol
They wont put you through to legal. I tried that while I was purchasing my club. i am looking for the direct dial or a specific name so he can send a letter directly.
Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and Chief General Counsel – Roger Schmidt
I looked it up
It appears to me that there are major differences between the two lawsuits that are going on between the Curves owners vs. Curves International/Gary Heavin and the UPS stores owners vs. the UPS franchisor. Admittedly, I do not know much about the UPS store lawsuit but I do know a whole lot about the Curves lawsuit and the merit of the case. The Curves lawsuit has nothing to do with being sold a franchise based on an unprofitable business model. The Curves lawsuit is based on four basic principals, which are over saturation of the market place, lack of support, underestimating the cost of operating a franchise as reported on the FTC UFOC document and overestimating the profitability of a franchise on the same FTC document. This seems to me to be a very different reason than what has been explained to me as the reason for the UPS store lawsuit.
It is also my opinion that Sean’s statement that the business model that Curves is based on is not sustainable is not true. I have been with curves since 97 and have had many franchise locations. When they first started selling franchises, they were sold in small towns of 20,000 to 30,000 in population. Each franchise was given an exclusive right to that particular city. The franchise that we bought in those cites were absolutely gold mines and continues to be even today. The retention of members has been up until the last quarter of 08 running at 80 percent. The economy has certainly hurt those clubs but out of the ones we stared in 97 through 2002, all are still very successful that are in those protected areas. In 2003, most of the towns across America that were 20,000 to 30,000 in population were sold and the metro areas were just beginning to be sold. At that time, the overselling of franchises became a concern not only with owners but also with management within the Curves International offices. On one side, you had an owner who became greedy and did not care about the franchises but just how much money could be generated by the initial sale of the franchise. Other management personal that had helped start and build Curves were against many of the policies and the direction that Curves was heading and as a result were released, fired, and locked out of the corporate offices. They in turn filed a 20 million dollar lawsuit, which was settled, out of court against Curves International and Gary Heavin. It was at this time that the overselling of franchises became a concern to owners as in the metro area the clubs were being sold within a mile from each other. Once the metro areas were all sold, they started to sell areas that had less than 20,000 populations and even sold areas that were less than 1500 in population. When owners would complain about the over crowding of the franchises they were told that if Howard did not sell them his competitors would open up in those areas. He sated many times he wanted to be the Sam Walton of health and fitness centers. Curves also started to sell over seas franchises at this time. By 2006, there were not any areas in the US that could be sold as a new franchise as all the areas including any corridor of land along a highway that had 2000 people living there was sold. Curves International knew what they had done as in 06 at the national convention Gary Heavin admitted that he expected many of the metro area clubs to close as a result of the over selling in those areas and called it the franchise wars. He even had the audacity to laugh about it and make a joke out of it.
If you will look at the clubs that have closed, you will find that the majority are either in a territory that is way to small or one that is in a metro area where clubs are within a mile or two from each other. Not one of the clubs that we opened between 97 and 2003 in rural America has closed and their membership retention is still running around 70 percent. They are still profitable while not expanding because of the economy they do not have the complaints that the other owners have. I know this to be a fact as when I sold them I carried the paper on them and am in touch with them on a monthly basis. The completion such as Contours Express, Ladies workout express, 123 fitness and the like are having problems and in the future will probably fade away but that is not because 30-minute programs are a fad. It is because their equipment is not the same as Curves hydraulic resistance and is a copycat of Curves, which in reality do not work. All of the owners of Curves are more than willing to admit that the workout is successful and that the members all love it. They see results with in the first week and by the end of 30 days, 99.9 percent have not only lost weight but also inches and body fat.
In the beginning, Curves International stated in the UFOC agreement an estimate of what your expense should cost to operate a franchise. In included in this cost was the amount of rent that was acceptable and it was between 800 and 1,000 per month. Before you can open your facility, your location must be approved by Curves International. In order to get the necessary approvals you must send Curves a copy the purposed space rental lease showing what you are paying per foot and the total cost per month and the location was to be in the center of your territory. This is still true today as it was when Curves International first started selling franchises. Up until late 03, you would not get approval from them for your location unless you met their cost and location guidelines. From late o3 on that changed and they would approve any location requardless of where the club was located or the monthly rent cost… In the metro areas, many clubs were being given permission to open up on their boundary lines and at costs that were way over the guidelines that had been established and reported on the UFOC documents. Many of those club owners were paying rent between four and five thousands. Dollars just for rent. Curves knew that those clubs would never be profitable and should have never let them rent those spaces nor allowed them to open on the fringe of their territory. This not only cause cannibalism of the metro areas but stared price wars between owners. Owners started to offer amenities that were not Curves approved to entice members from neighbor clubs and when one owner would complain to corporate nothing was ever settled or addressed. It got so bad in some areas that owners would hire trainers from other clubs offering higher salaries in hopes that members of one club would follow the trainer to the other club. Curves International, which had the authority to put a stop to all of this, did nothing. In most successful franchises you do not have this type of behavior happening and if you do the responsibility of the Zor is to act as the mediator and to have the advantage to stop the bickering between owners. Curves International did nothing, as it was to their advantage as if a club closed they would sell the franchise again to some unsuspecting owners as they were at that time consider a good franchise. As that started to change owners who were in the metro areas started to sell as fast as they could and even went as far as falsifying their books showing more active members than they actually had and Curves International had to be aware of this happening. When you resale a club the person selling the club had to follow Curves Resale procedures. Those resale procedures include sending in a statement of how many active members they have and the monthly revenues and the purchase price signed by both the buyer and the seller. Each month Curves owners have to send in a monthly report that is generated by the computer system that we all use called a projection sheet. This projection sheet shows among other things the total revenue you collected for the previous month. It also shows the monthly membership broken down by how they are paying such as pre-pay, check draft, gift certificate, charity ect, ect, and ect. The reason you have to send this in monthly is that from 03 on most franchises are on a percent of gross income for the franchise fees that are due to Curves International and by looking at this summary you can determine how a franchise is doing financially. Curves International should have been aware that franchise owners were falsifying their membership figures to inflate the resell price yet I have not heard of one case where they informed the buyer about it nor did they ever stop an inflated sale from going through. Curves International in my opinion perpetuated this fraud as many of the resale owners have complained to me about being taken by the previous owners falsifying their books.
In late o6, Curves International started selling what they call Curves Smart. It was advertised as new technology and would revolutionize the fitness industry. Before you could buy the Curves Smart, you had to become a shinning star facility. In order to do this you had to comply to Curves International’s guidelines and be approved but in the metro areas very few were following the guidelines so it was offered to almost any club that would pay for it. Very few did and most of the ones that did regret buying into it. It is not new technology but over ten years old and it never worked than and does not work now. It was just another income stream to curves International. However, the real kicker is that each club pays a monthly fee for advertising. Since late 03, the franchises have all complained that we never see where our advertising dollars are spent and we hardly ever see any ads. It amounts to over thirty million dollars a year but Curves International has no accountability to the franchise owners where that money is spent. This year some of that money we have been told will go towards advertising the Curves Smart program but not all the clubs have Curves Smart so once again the franchise owners are being ripped off. There are many mother issues that the franchise owners have that are legitimate complaints but no one at Curves International is listening so the saga goes on and on.
Anyway, as usual, I am way off track responding to Sean’s post but it is my belief that the lawsuit has merit and that the litigants will win in court. I also believe that Curves will survive the test of time and may in the future become a top franchise again. It defiantly need to be restructured as far as the management and many will close before the ordeal is done but it is not just a fad. It is truly a wonderful workout that works for most women, and needs different leadership at the top to survive these tough times.
NJCO,
This is probably to late to help but there is two main lawyers for Curves– Rodger Schmidt and Jeff Burchfield. Their phone number is 254-399-9509 and can also be reached by e-mail at curveslegal@curves.com. It has been our experience that they will not call back nor e-mail but they may if it is an attorney that is calling them Good Luck
I am so not surprised that they dont get back to people. LOL
Sean’s statement that the business model is not sustainable is probably true for a great many franchisees, because it is only sustainable when a certain number of clients join the clubs. I think he is saying that Curves are sold in areas that cannot sustain a franchisee because the franchisee has no chance of ever getting and keeping enough members to consistently sustain the business —and in a recession, this is an expense that can be eliminated —especially by the couch potatoes who want to return to the couch. You notice that Fitness Franchisees are failing all over the country but the YMCA in Community enters, etc.. still stands and serves the community because they are subsidized sometimes by local and county governments.
I hope that you can prove your case to the court, Unhappy! But, if you will do your own research, you will understand that the whole purpose of regulation of franchising was to protect franchisors from charges of fraud or breach when franchisees sign the non-negotiable contracts in which franchisees acknowledge that they are buying the franchise with no promise from the franchisor of any profits or success.
Over-saturation or over-selling is just another name for encroachment and unfortunately, the courts have decided that “encroachment” by the franchisor is legal when no territories are described in the UFOC/FDD. Franchisors almost always put language in their non-negotiable agreements that protect them from any bad estimates of startup costs. If Curves made false earnings claims within the UFOC, this may be all you need. Your attorney will have to paddle up stream fighting the current of public policy and federal regulatory goals.
I wish you luck but be aware that franchising is conducted in this country and the world with the view that the franchisors and the franchisees who succeed must be protected from lawsuits from the franchisees who fail —and especially when they fail in great numbers.
Keep track of the lawsuit –Peaberry Coffee —in the Denver District Court —Remember, in the 30 years almost since franchising was taken out from under the common law fraud and tort statutes of the States, there has never been any case law established that indicates that franchisors have any legal duty to sell proven and viable franchise opportunities to the public under the current status quo of the law.
Good luck to you!
Carol
unhappy: Thanks for your thorough response. I hope you’re right, that the clubs you sold indicate that the concept is viable and that there’s hope for the chain in the future. Whether CI will make the necessary adjustments or sell out to someone who will remains to be seen. The alternate is to keep churning away as they have been, accepting legal fees as a cost of doing business and licensing the brand name for consumer products, partnerships, etc.
As North Jersey Curves Owner has said, the strength is in the numbers. It will take franchisees working together to create change, IMHO.
As Carol can tell you, that has not historically been a strong suit of franchisees. FRs have been able to build a powerful, effective association; franchisees have not.
We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.
~Ben Franklin, At the signing of the Declaration of Independence
THE POWER TO AMAZE OURSELFS
Hello Curves sisters, and former sisters.
A thought occurred to me today about writing our senators, congressmen, representatives and all in Washington about this travesty that has occurred to us. Remind them that we pay their salary and they can be replaced in the next election. We have to start taking the power back. They are part of the problem. They are the ones that helped to draft the laws and help to enforce them that have caused us great pain. There is an old saying one hand washes the other, well I am not washing anymore of their hands, until they help to free us out here. If we all write, past owners and current in every state the FTC and AG’s in every state will start to make things change. I for one am going to start this week. So tell everyone you know about this campaign, there is strength in numbers, it is time that we stop being the minority and become the majority. Perhaps in doing so, it will send a message to Washington that we are tired of all the crap that they are dishing out and other things will change as well. Be bold be strong! After all we have “The Power to Amaze Ourselves”, don’t we? Let’s use the slogan that Gary gave us to turn the tables! My thoughts and prayers will be with you all, my battle is heating up right now, but I am determined to walk away the victor in all this.
May God’s Blessing be upon you all, use your righteous anger for good, after all Jesus cleared the temple of the money changers didn’t he?
we have curves for 1 year , the business has lost money every since we bought the club. we did everything they said and maybe 1 to 2 new members some of the time. we did not get any help from ci , always just spend money to make money. we have no more money and are closed now , just this past week.we have got attorney and are trying to stop the 10,ooo fee. curves tryed to get us to sell our club for $1 also. wrong thing to do .curves also threatned to call the sheriff on us to make us open the club back up. how do you open with not enough members that pay to cover your franchise and ad fees.times are hard , but CI does not help anyone but themselves. i am sorry for other owners heartache , but we are their with u.
They threatened to call the “sheriff”? LOL Bing Bing Bing Riccochet Rabbit! They are unbelievable.
They asked me as well if I would sell for a dollar. Um, you still have to pay the transfer fee and put 1800.00 in escrow. Their nuts. All they care about is making their 5% and 3%.
I have had my club on the market for 1.5 years nopw, It is another ploy to get you to use McCords who are just like Gary Heavin – a snake
Darrell,
We are so sorry to hear about your horror story with Curves. You are not alone as hundreds of owners have faced the same treatment as you have from Curves International. As I’m sure you are aware many of us are in the process of joining a a group action lawsuit against Curves. Unfortunatly many owners can’t afford the lawyer retaineer fee. It is such a shame that our justice system is based on money. But for all the Curves owners who have been taken to the cleaners by Curves International and their greed we can get some satisfaction by writting the BBB and the Atorney General of your state and also the Federal Trade Commission. The web site for them is posted above in a previous post. Please take the time to do this as it’s time for all owners to take action to put a stop to the way Curves International is treating and ripping off it’s franchise owners. We do have the power to amaze owrselfs and if we all take this action wheather or not we join the lawsuit it will certainly get Howie’s attention. thanks
MORE BS in my Curves email. See below:
Good Afternoon All,
Here is some exciting information for you on Curves University. Please take the time to read and sign up
Curves International is so excited to offer once again courses that will help you increase your profits!
Curves University classes in Nutrition and Kinesiology are an amazing way to enhance your members’ experience at your club!
You encounter many opportunities for revenue: New Sales, Dues and Drafts, Weight Management Classes and Product/Supplement Sales. Curves University can help you grow all of these areas! Help lower your attrition rate by providing great service…members getting results will tell their friends and can help you grow your membership…learn the fundamentals of the new Weight Management program so you can hold classes in your club…and more!
Commit to this amazing program today! Your members will greatly benefit from your new knowledge. Visit Curves Community: Curves Meetings: Curves University to register before classes fill up!
Claire Sherlock
Curves International Area Director
New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland
Probably the writer of this letter has NO IDEA why Curves doesn’t make “official” earnings claims in their UFOC, and is trying to survive herself by pretending that these units are making profits. Does she know that she is selling “snake oil” or does she truly believe that Curves University is the answer to your profits?
The business about helping you to “increase your profits” is cute but how about just breaking even and being able to pay your overhead?
Because these big franchisors don’t have to disclose UNIT FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE STATISTICS under the FTC Rule and the State FDD to new buyers, they can hide the lack of profitability of the units in their system from the new buyers —and maybe the Area Directors operate on the premise that “ignorance is bliss” and they just follow the script.
If investors in Curves actually understood how few units were actually making profits, I’m sure they wouldn’t have invested their money and taken on debt that only benefitted Curves and not them.
But, what can you do? Just what Unhappy suggests in her Post. If you can’t afford to join and support a lawsuit, please be sure to make a lot of noise with your State AG, your State and Federal Representatives, and especially the FTC who “pimps” for the franchisors with the ineffective FTC Rule that permits franchisors to hide the unviability and unprofitability of the franchise that they are selling to the public.
Remember, less than 5% of failed franchisees survive with enough money to TRY to address the courts and the other 95% of failed franchisees just fade away into the sunset —either into bankruptcy or into a situation where they continue to pay on the start-up debt. What a nice subsidy these franchisors get from this ineffective regulation!
I know you are a fighter, North Jersey, and you will figure it all out and do what is best for yourself.
Carol
Found out that a judegement is good for 20 years in NJ. My husband and I are going to a bankruptcy attorney today to see if we could qualify for Chapter 7. If we do, CI cant put any judgementa gainst us or force us to pay anything. While we are aware bankruptcy stays on your record, we will just rebuild our credit. Our FICO scores are still high right now but we just wont be able to handle the debnt we are incurring from Curves with me on unemployment.
Smart reasoning, NJ Curves owner!
I think you will be able to rebuild your credit rating with little trouble in the future.
The fiasco and great tragedy that has befallen our economy will mean that many Americans will be rebuilding their credit ratings in the next many years.
I’m just sorry that you were “taken in” and I hope that you will do lots of complaining to the lawmakers and to whomever. I am not an attorney.
I’m just the wife and Mother of those who were victimized by The UPS Store franchise but I know that Richard Solomon –”honest Richard” of Franchise Remedies, who is a franchise attorney with 40 years of experience recommends bankruptcy for those in your position –and so does Sean, I believe.
Better days ahead for you! I know!
I read yesterday in our City Paper that the Credit Card Companies were the big interests who wanted the bankruptcy laws changed, and this change in our bankruptcy laws is what contributed also to the financial mess in the country. I hope this will not be a problem for you but I imagine this is why the bank made you transfer the balance due on your loan to your credit card ??????
Keep us posted!
I just want to make sure that if we file bankruptcy that we are released from the franchise agreement.
Your bankruptcy attorney will tell you about all of this tomorrow.
Actually, when you close down your business, you will have terminated and the franchisor will tell you they have certain options under the contract because of the “abandonment” of the business. This is where the “buyouts” came about — they are in lieu of them exercising their other option of liquidated damages (owed royalties) under the terms of the contract you signed with them.
The only reason we are filing bankruptcy is to not pay back franchisee fees or the 10,000.
This is from the Curves agreement – Look at the personal guarantee – http://www.freeufoc.com/pdf/CurvesFA2.pdf
Unhappy/Sean
I filed my complainy with the FTC. Here is what I wrote:
My husband and I bought a Curves resale in May 2006. Since purchasing it, we have lost over $65,000. We also have $95,000 left to pay on a business loan which now has to be moved to credit cards in order to have the lien removed off the assets so we can shut down. We can no longer sustain after 3 years. The term of the agreement is 5 years. We cannot afford to keep it open for another two years. When I contacted Curves International about the closing paperwork, I received a laundry list of things they want. Included in the demands is a demand for a failure fee of $10,000. It states if you pay them that amount, they will release you from the agreement. This is not the case. According to former franchisees, the document you actually sign, prevents you from filing suit against them. At that point, they come after you and place a judgement on you for all your royalties and advertising fees at maximum rate for the remainder of your agreement.
Curves International has a major national/international lawsuit against them. The Curves lawsuit is based on four basic principals which are: oversaturation of the market place, lack of franchise support (they take 5% franchisee fees a month), underestimating the cost of operating a franchise as reported on the FTC UFOC document and overestimating the profitability of a franchise on the same FTC document. They also take 3% advertising fees a month from each franchisee. We NEVER see any advertising. Where does the money go?
My husband and I live in an apartment and one of our cars is leased. Curves initially denied us the franchise. They then changed their minds and granted it to us. The former owner sold it to us under falsified numbers. The Resale paperwork asks for members numbers. We would continuously put down 275. There weren’t 275 members. Curves knew the amount of members and did not tell us. They knew because every month a projection sheet with gross profit and member count had to be submitted. We thought we were purchasing a profitable gym. Our full business loan was based on 275 members and the profit from 275 members.
In the 3 years we owned the gym, a representative from corporate came once and she wasn’t even the NJ area director. She was the CT area director. She put down that our gym was profitable but it wasn’t. She tried to stiff arm us into purchasing their new equipment called Curves SMart which they claim was new. It was not new technology. They wanted $5,000 for it. They kept telling us we had to spend to make.
Curves International uses religion to commit fraud, lie, and manipulate people out of money. They say they pride themselves by being a “Christian Organization”. Gary Heavin says he is “doing this for the Lord” It’s a cult organization not a Christian organization. They do not care about their franchisees. They care about only money. They don’t want to hear how bad of a situation you are in or that your club is not profitable.
We need change. And with the new adminsitration coming in, I hope you will take a hard look at Gary Heavin and Curves International for the fraud they are.
My husband and I are going to a bankruptcy attorney today because we cant take on all these expenses anymore. We will not be able to afford $10,000 or all back royalties/ad fees.
I also sent the same letter to Presidnet Elect Obaba’s camp There is a new website – http://www.change.gov. You can submit commets through the website. Send them there too! Maybe if the his staff sees enough . . .
Obama not Obaba LOL
Good for you NJCO. Sad to hear about the bankruptcy but I’m sure things will work out for you in the end. It looks like the car manufactures as well as many business owners will be right behind you. You take care and God Bless you and your family.
We have been advisd by the bankruptcy attorney to just shut down and not send back any paperwork to corporate. We were told once we file bankruptcy, there is nothing they can do. Thoughts?
You neeed to follow your attorneys advice as that is what you are paying him for. It’s a shame that CI will beable to use the illigal debt as a tax write off. Be sure to write the BBB, State attorneys General office and The FTC. Keep us informed on how everything works out. Good luck to you and God Bless.
I have already written President Elect Obabma & the FTC. I hope you all follow my lead and do it and not just talk about it.
Good news, NJCO! Keep us posted.
Thanks for the information on the Obama Website that all Curves victims should use.
That is http//www.change.gov —–I have written comments in “Regulation –Rule of Law –and hope that all franchisees (who feel that they wouldn’t be where they are today if it hadn’t been that they didn’t realize how unprofitable and risky the investment was going to be) will find value in putting pressure on the government to make franchisors disclose the risk, as known to the franchisor by the unit performance statistics, BEFORE he sells the franchise.
I am so glad to have found this website. I owned 3 Curves with a business partner. Long story short, we never made any money. We were foolish enough to purchase the Smart Equipment and our numbers kept falling. We also were given false information when we bought our clubs.
Now I signed over ownership to my former business partner and she has full responsibility. I agree with many of the comments posted. There are too many franchises, not enough support from CI and CI’s only goal is to make money at any possible cost.
I have $45,000 in personal debt because of the businesses but luckily I don’t have to worry about owning them anymore!
I will continue to visit the website and would appreciate any feedback regarding lawsuits and other courses of action former owners are taking.
curvesburnout
Write to the FTC, your attorney general, and to the President-Elect (www.change.gov)
Talk to Robert about the lawsuit.
Remember that all over our country, there are ex-franchisees from many franchise systems who CONTINUE to pay on their debt incurred to buy and operate a franchise. No way to know how many because they don’t show up in the default statistics of the SBA or in the statistics of the banks –unless, of course, there is a failure to pay the home equity or other loan that was used to finance the purchase and operation of the franchise.
This hidden subsidy of the franchisors contributes to their ability to CHURN and TURN units and to grow their gross sales upon which they realize their profits. Franchisors don’t share in the risk of building and financing the physical units and can profit even as great numbers of their franchisees fail as long as they can sell discounted units out the back door and new franchises out the front door.
This is a hidden subsidy of franchising, enabled by inadequate, ineffective, ugly regulation of franchising that permits churning, encroachment, and exploitation of franchisees who are NOT given true disclosure of the risk factors of “unit profitability” and “unit failure rates” from the franchisors BEFORE the sale.
Think about the fact that in the almost 30 years since the government has regulated franchising, there has never been any case law made in the courts that indicates that franchisors have a legal duty to be competent and to sell a “proven” franchise to the public. (Google up Franchise Times Article re: The Peaberry Coffee Co. —a lawsuit in the Denver Federal District Court)
It is government regulatory policy, evidently, to legitimize the franchisor through the FTC Rule and the UFOC/FDD and then allow them to sell franchises at any degree of unprofitability or failure to the unsuspecting public.
Be sure, as Unhappy indicates, to contact your State AG, your elected representatives, and the FTC and complain about curves. Write the President on the Website Change.Gov.Com and ask for better regulation and oiversight of franchising.
Spread the Word!
Dear Curvesburnout – I need your response soon as I am about to do this. My partner wants out and I am going to send Curves the $1000 for the Request to change owner. I will be shutting down in a few months anyway but I want to protect my American partner from any potential harassment by Curves – she doesn’t need it. I am international and they never pay attention to me anyway! Did you send them the $1000?
Are you nuts don’t send them a dime not one dime. Write an email to Sean with your phone number on it and he will send it to me and I’ll call you to go over what to expect from Curves international.
Thanks – I am sending to info@franbest.com? I could use the $1000 I’ve been saving to pay a fraction of the other bills I have.
To “unhappy”. I have sent the info to Sean. Awaiting your call. Thanks!
Or, if you don’t want to call long distance, let me have your number and I’ll call you on my Magic Jack! He also has my email now, which he can have permission to forward to you. Wow, I thought I was alone in the world with my Curves experience and because I was international. I had no idea ….
We have many international clubs that have not only joined this site but the law suit as well. In order to fight curves international you must do it in the states in waco tx because of our franchise agreement. Be sure to pass this on to other international owners. You will be hearing from me soon.
The lawsuit is not for me. I do not personally have a beef with Curves with regard to territories, etc., because I am the only one here. But I TOTALLY sympathize with you because I have now heard lots of stories from this site and other places. My story is simply economic. In 2004 we had hurricanes and our town has never recovered. My membership went from 350 to 10 in 24 hours and it took a year to get back to 100. The next year the hurricanes hit again, with the same effect. I have moved to lower my rent but the sad truth is that people here are suffering. Some of Curves stuff is a waste of time and was a detriment to the reputation of the club. The games and contests are crap and I lost a lot of keen gym-goers doing all that stuff in the first 6 months because I didn’t know better and wasted my time entertaining the members. The club quickly got the reputation of being the “easy” gym and in my small town, it was fatal as I have limited population to draw from. The lame TV ads showing overweight women chatting and using the equipment incorrectly didn’t help either! I can’t use any branded promotional items because the Curves trademark isn’t registered here and there is another business called Curves (not a gym) and they have threatened me many times if I use anything that just says Curves on it. I have to add “30-Minute Fitness Center” onto everything. Curves Legal Dept never responded to any of my requests to help or investigate the trademark issue. (Plus no international 1-800 for Curves or GoFigure and I have racked up on phone bills being on hold). So no point bringing in the Curves stuff. Plus the shipping and duty is horrendous. I have whittled down to 50 core members who work out hard and are getting fabulous bodies, but it does not pay the bills and I am sinking deeper into debt. Thank goodness the new Area Director doesn’t even know I exist. The last one did and even though she was nice, she bugged me with too many requests to do lead bags and flyers (we don’t get any kind of free-flyers-with-Kinkos deal here) which were entirely useless and costly. After 5 years of no money, I am planning to close down in 2 months (because I have 2 months rent on deposit with the landlord). Any revenue I earn from dues in the meantime can go towards paying my local bills, but I do not intend to give Curves anything owing (5 months of franchise fees from 2004 right after the hurricane.) I have not had a paycheque since September 2004 and I have had enough. While my lawyer here feels that Curves will not bother me much because I am out of the country, I do have an American partner who has suffered enough with no return on her investment and I do not want to put her in any more jeopardy or get harrassed. I want to put the Request to Change Owner name(s) to protect her before I shut down. Please call me.
Curves franchise owners:
What do you think of Curves partnering with the aggressively anti-gay American Family Association (AFA)?
Is this a good use of advertising dollars, or is it playing with fire? Comments encouraged here:
http://www.franchisepick.com/curves-for-women-anti-gay/
Regarding the Curves promotional partnership with the anti-gay American Family Association, Becky Frusher, Director, Corporate Communications, Curves International, Inc. has posted her response here:
http://www.franchisepick.com/curves-for-women-anti-gay/
Howies partnering with AFA is just one more example of how he has absolutely no business sense on how his actions could affect the remaining franchises, the ones left are barely hanging on. Can they survive this PR? It is almost as if he is trying hard to discredit the Curves Concept completely. One more time Howie has left no doubt on how incredibly arrogant and ignorant he is.
Important message to all Curves owners.
There is another site that all current owners of a curves franchise needs to be aware of. The site was set up by Curves using our advertising dollars so we all need to use it. It’s intent is to allow owners to converse with other owners and to share ideas. It is a good site if you are looking for ideas on how to save your club or just have questions for other owners. Here is the link http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/curvesowners/?v=1&t=search&ch=web&pub=groups&sec=group&slk=1
Please go there to check it out and voice your opinion on the current posts and voice your concerns. This site is strictly for owners.
To all past and present curves owners
It is time for all past and present owners of Curves franchises to stand up and file complaints against Curves International and Gary Howard Heavin. I’m sure we can all agree that this company is in serious trouble with all the club closures and while the economy certainly has hurt our business the main set back is how the company is being run into the ground by Gary Heavin and his co-hearts. It should be obvious to all owners that the only way this will change is if we take action as a group. Some owners have been talking about a boycott of the monthly franchise and advertising fees that we pay. While that will certainly get their attention if enough of us follow through we can accomplish it even faster if we all file complaints with the BBB in Waco, TX, the BBB in your area, the Attorney General of your state, the Attorney General of the state of TX. and the Federal Trade Commission. I have included web site addresses where you can go to file such a complaint. Please do so ASAP and lets see how Howie handles the complaints.
http://www.bbb.org/
http://waco.bbb.org/WWWRoot/SitePage.aspx?site=40&id=ab5100aa-4c5a-4314-8e1b-f5996973f10c
http://www.oag.state.tx.us/consumer/index.shtml
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/index.shtml
talk about know business sense. If you hold back royalities you are in breach of contract. Complain until the cows come home. This is an International company. He is a billionare,Are you kidding. It seems as though because you failed he owes you something. It means you dont belong in this business not everyone does. If you not suited in the industry you will not do well cut and dry There are many many that are doing well . Its all of you that make us look bad and we cant wait for the week clubs to get out of our way quit bellyaching and leave.We have had agreat beginning of the year and all that stay positive will do well The fact is women do need to exercise. Its up to the owner to see the member gets what they paid for. Nothing will stop my club from being great not even all you negitive x club owners. Remember location is everthing and staying positve is what the women need to see. I dont see any of that here. I was brought to this site by accident and could not believe what negitivity no wonder this is failure galore. All the failed clubs post here there are many doing well move on already
Another Curves OWner,
I think until you walk a day in our shoes, you have no reason to speak to us in such a tone. First and foremost, Curves International has the say to whether you qualify to have the franchise or not monetarily. My husbnad and I had start up money from the bank as well as a full business loan but we have no assets – we rent an apartment and lease a car. At first Curves denied us the franchise and then changed their minds knowing we had NOTHING. The individual we bought from had a lot of money and falsified numbers. Curves International had the projection sheets and true member numbers and never said a thing. We put down 275 members on the resale papers. Curves did not tell us otherwise.
In our area when we took over, there were 3 other Curves within 10 minutes from us. In addition, across the highway there is an Olympus Gym AND a NY Sports Club that just opened up. Down the highway there is an Olympus gym.
If you are doing well and making money, great for you. I mean that sincerely. Unfortunately, with our club, women do not care about being weighed and measured or losing weight. They come there for social hour and to socialize with our manager. Our manager and members do no not have a client/manager relationship. She is friends with the whole morning crew. They go to lunch and hang out during the week. When we first took over the gym and did member surveys, we were told that if we fired the manager, the morning crew that comes from her would leave. You are talking about a good 25+ people. Her loyalties are to the members not her boss.