Inches-A-Weigh Franchise Failure Prompts Fraud Probe, Lawsuits

(FranchisePick.Com) In retrospect, DiVecchio said, “It’s like they were selling a dream.”

A story today published in the Palo Alto Daily News and the San Jose Mercury News provides a dramatic example of how picking the wrong franchise can cost you more than your initial investment of time and money. In addition to bankruptcy, failed Inches-A-Weigh women’s fitness and weight loss franchise owner Connie DiVecchio must now contend with a criminal fraud investigation, an impending civil lawsuit, negative media publicity and the ire of customers who claim that only their wallets have gotten lighter.

Journalist Will Oremus’ article does a great job of covering the unfortunate situation from the viewpoints of franchisee, franchisor and customers. He also reveals a personal talent for tapping the insights of the most sage and powerful voices in franchising today (FranchisePick.com contributors) as transmitted through me, their humble mouthpiece, their unworthy vessel. In other words, I’m quoted at the end. Check it out:

Source: MercuryNews.Com

Fitness club franchises can leave owners in bad shape

Fraud probe, lawsuits in wake of one closing

By Will Oremus Palo Alto Daily News

Less than a year ago, Connie DiVecchio opened a women’s fitness club on El Camino Real in San Mateo with visions of happy customers and tidy profits.

Today – hounded by creditors, investigated by police, facing bankruptcy – DiVecchio says she wishes she’d never heard of Inches-A-Weigh. Not only did the profits never materialize, but her once-happy former customers are planning to sue her.

What happened? She blames an inhospitable local market; competitors speculate she lacked the necessary experience or charisma; several angry customers allege the business may have been a scam from the start.

Risky franchises

To those familiar with the $46 billion-a-year U.S. weight loss industry, however, DiVecchio’s experience comes as no shock. It’s typical of a get-rich-quick business model that can burn unwary franchisees and customers as surely as it burns calories, they say.

DiVecchio, a Foster City resident whose previous business experience included helping her father run an auto dealership, says she first heard about Inches-A-Weigh from a family member last year. Like the wildly successful Curves chain, it caters to busy, middle-aged women looking to drop a dress size or two.

For a fee of about $30,000, plus capital expenses, it offered DiVecchio the chance to launch her own franchise.

Inches-A-Weigh’s purple-and-gold-trimmed Web site fuels fantasies of easy money, touting a “low initial investment,” “low monthly overhead,” “simple operation” and a chance to “build a fortune” in a rapidly growing market.

A question on the Q-and-A page reads, “Do I need prior experience in the health/fitness industry?” The answer: “No!”

In retrospect, DiVecchio said, “It’s like they were selling a dream.”

READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE

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