Is Curves for Women a Good Franchise Investment?
March 7, 2007 by Sean Kelly
Filed under Business
Do you own a Curves for Women franchise? Have you owned one, or know anyone who has? What are your thoughts on this franchise?
Curves For Women is one of the fastest growing franchise companies of the decade, having now topped 10,000 locations. I know in our area the concept seems to have passed the test of time. However, according to Franchise Pundit, 8% of the current Curves franchise locations are for sale.
What’s the inside scoop on the Curves for Women franchise opportunity?
SHARE YOUR INSIGHT. LEAVE A COMMENT.
Apparently, Curves lets them go away without any trouble, but I’m not sure. We came close to finding out last year.
I think McCord is based in Texas, like Curves. We were told of them when we put out word that we were selling our clubs.
I check out the new Curves Smart system. This is not new technology. It is built my “myTrak”company of canada. I had seen and have spoken to the owner of the company years ago. at that time to install this on hydaulic equipment was $10,000 which is more than the value of the curves equipment, which cost $3000. for 10 pieces and sold for a wopping $30K to the new curves owners. mytrack is marketing this system to all strength manufactureres. 3 years ago and did a demo of the mytrak system. The system is also now used by Strive and they call it the strive smart circuit which has the same mytrak system.
the mytrak webste http://www.mytrakhealth.com/What+is+MYTRAK/default.aspx
anyone can buy this system. I have a deep knowledge of how it works if you have any questions. That said the curves equipment will still not provide its members with both positive and negative resistance for proper body toning and muscle build. This Quote new technology is basic in nature using the priciple of load vs time and the green just makes you attempt to go faster. The system works on plate loaded equipment but not hydraulic circuit equipment. Nothing replaces cert personal trainers.
sadderbutwiser,
I’m not sure about the growth our our club. The current owner has only had it for about one year. I’m the only seriously interested party she has had so far. It seems that the membership has declined since she purchased as she fired the manager as soon as she took over. I have an appointment with an accountant for some input on the purchase tomorrow. There are currently 187 active members. 95% are check drafts. I’d like to think I could improve upon what she’s done but its the heart vs. head thing again.
Open (and maybe dumb) question to all you fitness club experts:
Does Curves – and other 30 Minute clubs – offer certified personal training? If not, why not?
I’ve heard that the facilities don’t have A. The space, and B. the right equipment. However, I know plenty of trainers who work with clients in their homes. Certainly they have less space and equipment.
I know this is so obvious that there must be a reason. What is the average monthly fee for Curves? $29 – $39? So the potential revenue per member is $480?
Personal trainers charge $50-$75 an hour average. Even if the owner’s cut was $25 per session, each member with a weekly training session would represent $1350 in potential additional revenue, for a total annual revenue of $1850. And that’s using outside trainers with only a 50/50 split, and only 1 hour session (or two 1/2 hour sessions) per week.
Each of these members would generate as much revenue as 4 membership-only members.
This is so obvious that I don’t want to insult anyone by thinking this hasn’t been considered and tried. I’m just curious as to why I don’t see this being pursued as a solution. Thanks.
Curves advises against offering any services outside the regular circuit, such as personal trainers, tanning beds, yoga classes, etc.
But with membership declining and Curves owners losing their shirts, I’m sure more are violating that recommendation and doing whatever they can to generate additional income to stay afloat.
We could sell Curves clothing, supplements, and toward the end, Curves bars. The clothing and the supplements rarely sold. The bars were popular at one club, but you could buy them cheaper at a Walgreen than you could get them wholesale.
Curves does not offer any type of cert per training. No other womens only clubs offer cert personal trainers. Most frachises want to keep clubs costs low so they discourage any additional services unless it benefits the franchisor. Curves for example has an agreement with my track to make money so now they have decided to promote a high cost electronic system that attaches to the machines. They make false claims that this system is better than a personal which it is not, and they forget to tell the comsumer that there is an addition $15.00 per month charge as well as the normal monthly$39.99 charge to have this service. now many new members will be convinced to pay $50.00 and month to go to curves when they can attend a full service club for less money that has everything and more. like the food curves offers it is an attempt for the franchior to make money on the franchisee with no real benefit to the customer. The average curves is 900 sq ft as well as the copy franchises like ladies workout express or contours and shapes. Anyone can buy a franchise so many of the owners are fat and out of shape and are only buying for greed thinking they can get rich quick. This flaw is why the curves and other womens only will not survive. Women deserve and want more for less. The Curves owners have no idea what this new system all about! It is funny that women on TV that talk about the new Curves Smart system are saying it is the most advanced in the world. This is totally untrue. The YMCA and other clubs have had this technology for years. Health clubs need to focus on peoples needs not selfish sales tactics for profit. As sadderbutwiser said’ Curves is promoting candybars in stores today they call food. This alone makes it difficult for people to take this franchise seriously. If cert personal trainers sold this stuff they would be laughed out of business, but it’s OK for those out of shape curves owners to sell this stuff. Sean asked the question why Curves does not offer Cert personal training. The answer is: They cannot the equipment is no good for anyone but the very elderly who can barely walk or very obese who want to talk and not exercise. No trainer including myself could give a member of curves a workout that they could change for 90 days. It just is not possible. Curves will never incorporate Cert Per trainers unless the company can make money for itself. Cash can be hidden so the company does not benefit from this service. The rule of franchising is if it cannot be tracked it cannot be done. So I think in the future Curves will start another service that they can make money on then and only then can the owners start using trainers. I know of curves in this area that make cash but not reporting sales so they can stay afloat. There is a curves 1 mile from me that is soon to go out of business because they have no members and they have already sold the other 2 they use to have which are also failing. The only one that will be left is owned by a wealth couple who have more money than they need and so it is a hobby. She is a stay at home women who bought a curves just to stay busy, her husband is a wealthy attorney. The other curves in the area are owed by average poor people wanting to get rich quick.
Personal training is costly for the average person in todays economy so many trainers are having a hard time so they do not want to share the money with a curves if they do not have too.
Thank You Sean for the article in this months Club industry magazine, it really highlights the problems with todays fitness franchises.
Article “Too much of a Good thing “Pg 72 Club industry’s fitness business pro.
I keep up with the industry news and am well informed of trends in this business.
I think that private business that are operated by cert trainers have a higher chance of success than Curves or any other Womens only fitness franchise. Providing customer service is difficult for fitness franchises who have absentee owners.
Jessie:
If you don’t mind working every single shift six days a week, then buy. Most clubs need 300-400 members just to break even.
You didn’t mention rent. If it’s above $2,000, stay away.
You said membership is declining. What makes you think it will turn around, especially in today’s terrible economy?
All the warning signs are there. All the needles are pointing to the red I’d say no if I were you, unless you can financially withstand the blow of losing tens of thousands of dollars – or much more – rather quickly.
I have commented a couple times in the past (November and January).
Jose, you obviously have a personal agenda that considerably exceeds your knowledge. A great deal of what you say is incorrect or misleading.
Curves has done great things for many women of all ages. The Curves situation is challenging but there are arguments on both sides.
Jose is simply not a credible voice in this discussion. I recommend that you ignore his diatribes. They are so unbalanced they are useless. Maybe he will find someplace else to rant.
Kunst: It would be more productive if you could attack and disprove the specific points Jose is making rather than say he should be ignored. I think he makes several valid points.
1) Curves personal training: I did a search prior to my last comment and came across the gadget he’s talking about. It seemed ludicrous to me. By marketing a machine or gadget as “Personal” underscores how impersonal the program is.
2) That Curves does not push personal training because it’s hard to track – and get royalties from. Jose’s point is not ludicrous in the least. One of the reasons some FRs use flat-fee royalties is because they are not making visits and don’t want a system where they can get cheated out of royalties. It’s easy to track product sales – like food and bars – but not personal services.
3) Focusing on keeping women coming to the clubs and getting real results is in the best interest of both the franchisees and the women members. It would seem to me that if their mission to help women and franchisees is their priority, we would be seeing dramatic programs to help keep members from retreating back to the couch and the remote – and to stop falling for weight loss scams. Instead, we’re seeing Curves leverage their name with grocery store products, merchandise and electronic gadgets. I think this is a valid point – not an unbalanced diatribe.
Kunst, Jose might have an agenda – or at least a bone to pick with Curves. He’s admitted to being a competitor. But he didn’t make up these problems & I his points are not off-the-wall.
If women are not renewing, then they are probably not exercising – and are no longer supporting the Curves owner. This is lose-lose for both. Is Curves focused on solving this serious problem, in your opinion?
I agree that Curves has done a great deal for women or all ages. But now that those women have gotten in shape, many are becoming bored with the circuit, or they’re going to a new generation of gyms they previously shied away from – such as Planet Fitness – which charge as little as $10 a month. And they’re often going with their husbands.
Why pay $39 a month for one membership at Curves when a couple can work out for $20 a month total at Planet Fitness? How can Curves compete?
Mr Kunst
I believe I am bringing into this blog information that many people attempting to make a decision need proir to risking their money and saving for a ” CHANCE ‘ to be successful. It is everyones dream to win it big. Some threw Lottery as fooling as that is and some threw buying into a franchise that has a proven system to keep the risk low. Many people today simple trade Lotto for business and Gamble. I believe I bring to the table a wealth of Knowledge that may save many of the readers money. I believe unless we are honest about the downfalls of certain , not all franchises we will inevitable make a bad choice. This blog as sean said is not designed to attack Curves. Curves should be able to take care of itself. Curves is a large corporation and now its decisions are made by people who do not understand the needs of the franchisees. They have been only concerned with Utilizing the Name ( Trademark ) TM to make money. Once Curves diversify the service to its customers will deminish evern further. Now so I do not sound one sided I will point our names of other companies today that have done the same thing. Balleys Fitness Filed Bankrupcy last year with a Debt of 1.2 BILLION Dollars, stock worth at one point 6 cents a share. Nautilus, Cybez and many companies strugkling today to make make money yet still over charge for many of the items the make to the consumers loss.
Other womens only clubs such as Contours Express, Butterfly life, Ladies Workout express Shapes, Slender lady, Lady of America, Woemens Only Workout, and I can list more are losing market share for the same reason Curves is so it is inevitable that Curves will suffer the same fate because of market saturation and lack of variety and personal service. As Sean said. the womens only clubs offer no personal training and service so women might as well go back to the coed clubs where the services are provided.
Statistically 60% of all Coed club members are women. That is factual. Many women of whom will never go back to curves or OTHER womens only clubs. Sadderbutwiser is correct when he said that other co ed clubs are charging less. Why not put the nail in the curves coffin it is how business is done. Curves did it to the co-ed clubs and now the shoe is on the other foot. Couples today need to support each other and it is always better to exercise with your spouse or friend. I encourage it. For the homework anyone with a knowledge of nutrition, please view the nutritional inforation on all curves food products and you will see I am correct when I say Curves is more interested in pushing the name then fitness or good nutrition. A diet high in Curves products will make you fat.
Mr Kunst I thank you for keeping up with this blog it is a good one, and probably the longest in history.
P.S. Thank You Sean and saderbutwiser for the Logic and truth.
Looks like the downturn is affecting Curves’ exclusive broker, too. I logged on to see whether our old clubs had been sold yet. Instead I found the site was down and this cryptic message at another site:
“Effective February 18, 2008 McCord Business Brokers, Ltd will no longer require a $2,000.00 commission deposit. We have restructured our commission rate as well. Please review the listing agreement for the new rate. This will not affect anyone currently listed with McCord Business Brokers, Ltd.”
Under the new rate, an owner will pay the broker $5,000 if the gross sales price of the business is less than $50,000, $7,000 if the business price is $50,000-$70,000 and 8 percent if the club price is $100,000 or more.
Here’s a link to the pdf agreement. . .
http://www.curvesresales.com/documents/listingagreement.pdf
Can anyone who is a current Curves owner answer a couple of questions for me? I am considering purchasing a Curves for sale:
1. Can I have a male employee?
2. Are the hours of operation limited?
3. How much is the upgrade to CurvesSmart?
I don’t need any advise on whether I should or shouldn’t buy-just answers to my questions would be helpful. Thank you.
To potential. I think you are on the wrong web site. If you read the title it states. ” Is curves for women a good franchise investment.’ The key word is “INVESTMENT” . I think you need to seek legal advise not Blog group advise. If Curves cannot tell you what you need to know then you have real problems. If your just doing research Just come out and say, I need to know this information to tell others, or if you are another Curves owner spying on others to see if you were overcharged for your Curves Smart system , just come out and say it, but non the less. I can answer several Q’s for you.
1. Curves discourages men in the club but male owners at times run the club.
2 Are the hours limited? of course they are! Go to any curves and look for yourself.
3. The Curves smart system should cost about $800.00 per machine but Curves will probably?overcharge for profit and charge about $1600.00 per machine.
For accurate data contact Curves
Good Luck
I would like to get some feedback from some current/previous Curves owners. I am considering purchasing an existing 2.5 year old franchise in a community of 4200 (2500 women with the median age being 45.5) that has one other full-service gym.
The current owner is absentee and has actually moved to another state. Current membership is 223 with 07 gross sales of around $80K, expenses of $55 and cash flow of $22K. The owner has not advertised at all in 07, but spent about $2,000 in advertising in 06. 07 gross sales are about 25% less than 06.
The asking price is $30K. What do you think?
JOse you need to get a life and let the people who are either interested in buying a Curves, current or previous owners be the experts here. Find a job buddy. Get a life. You’re none of the above and you are on the wrong website.
Jose why are you slammig Curves? You say that we do not make enough money. If we made more our business would be worth more. I agree with the last comment Get a job and a life!
RMZ I would proceed with caution, only because of the limited upside in member growth.
PKJ
Jose must be smarter than General Mills, Kraft Foods, The Milk campaign, AARP, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, Aetna and many more. All of these large companies have partnered with Curves. They must not have done their homework! Why would they join in with Curves if we have such a loosing company?
Jose has some valid points, but his facts are incorrect. I think it is important to question why he attacks Curves. He says he has never owned one and yet he states his so called facts liberally. Where does he get his information from? I am an owner and I certainly get different information than he does.
Well, food (Non Fattening) for thought.
PKJ
1. Can I have a male employee?
2. Are the hours of operation limited?
3. How much is the upgrade to CurvesSmart?
My wife and I own four Curves clubs in the Sacramento area. We opened two at the end of 2000 and two in the second half of 2003.
1. Yes, you can have a male employee. I don’t know of any male employees, but I do know of male owners who work in the clubs. For the right person, this can work, but the #1 reason women are interested in Curves is “no men”. I know of one male owner in our area who is doing a great job and is appreciated by the members. That said, we have received some transfers who just didn’t like the idea.
Related issue: my law-school-student daughter-in-law wrote me this: “Last week, in my employment discrimination class…we were just talking about when it is okay to make gender a prerequisite for a job, and the professor (who has argued more cases in front of the supreme court than anyone in history…and is a national expert in employment discrimination) asked a hypothetical about whether a Curves club could get away with hiring only women… You can just hire women since the “essence of the business” is making women feel comfortable. It seems odd that you cannot exclude men from joining, but you can exclude them in the hiring process. It’s interesting–an essence argument can only be used for gender, age and national origin (and religion), but not race.” As with any legal issue, opinions may differ. You cannot discriminate against a man who wants to join, but we have not found this to be a problem.
2. The traditional Curves hours are morning and afternoon/evening, with a closed period between. Our clubs open between 6:00 and 7:30 AM depending on club and day of the week. We close somewhere between 12:00 and 1:30 and reopen between 2:30 and 3:30, then close for the day at 7:00 or 7:30 PM. Different combinations for different clubs, depending on local patterns (commuters, school teachers getting off, lunch crowd, etc). I know of one or two clubs that don’t shut down mid-day and just stay open from (I’m not sure exactly) 7 AM to 7 PM or so. We are also open Saturday morning and closed Sunday, both of which are typical. There is no specific requirement from Curves corporate on this.
3. Cost for the basic 8 pieces of equipment and one stepper (it does the heart rate check): $5500. Additional machines: $350 each. If you have more than 13 machines, you have to get an extra stepper ($1300). For our clubs, two are costing $7250 and two are at $6750. We are going to take the lease option, which requires $1000 down and about $200/month for 3 years. The effective interest rate is 5.6%. The software license and support is $99/month.
By the way, contrary to Mr. Usually-Wrong Jose, this is a customized version of the MyTrak system and Curves has an exclusive license for womens-only gyms
RMZ asks:
I am considering purchasing an existing 2.5 year old franchise in a community of 4200 (2500 women with the median age being 45.5) that has one other full-service gym.
The current owner is absentee and has actually moved to another state. Current membership is 223 with 07 gross sales of around $80K, expenses of $55 and cash flow of $22K. The owner has not advertised at all in 07, but spent about $2,000 in advertising in 06. 07 gross sales are about 25% less than 06.
The asking price is $30K. What do you think?
One of our clubs is similar to this. About 10,000 population and 231 members. One full-service independent gym. Our revenue and expenses are higher (your club must be at $29/month; ours is at $39). P&L profit about $16,000 last year. The problem with this situation is the population. As with all gyms, 1/3 to 1/2 of your members are going to leave each year. That means you’re keeping them on average 2-3 years, which is good, reasonable, and normal. The problem is replacing them. It is true in general that Curves membership levels are down significantly over the last several years, and the main reason is that it’s hard to replace the members you lose. In a larger community, there are fresh faces all the time, but in a smaller community like the one you’re talking about, this is probably not the case. One reason the owner hasn’t advertised is probably because everyone knows Curves is there and either is a member, was a member, or knows people who are members. The best marketing for that kind of community tends to be people-gathering events, which is more demanding of time than money.
Here’s what I recommend to anyone considering buying a resale club:
1. Get a 2007 P&L from the owner, preferably with each month in a separate column. Analyze that puppy until you fully understand it.
2. Make sure you understand the membership numbers and how they relate to revenue. Look at product sales. If this area has been neglected, it may be an improvement opportunity for you.
3. Ask for the membership numbers by month since the club opened. You will probably see an initial spike that reached a peak and has been dropping for some time. It may or may not have leveled out.
4. Marginal (i.e., new and cancels) membership changes pretty much go straight to the bottom line. If membership drops, revenue drops with it.
5. Sometimes a new owner can energize a club and raise it to a higher level. Sometimes not. Do some due diligence and make the case both for and against this.
6. Talk to everyone you can about the club. If possible, talk to the employees. Talk to members. Have your wife join if that is feasible, or work out there on a travel pass if she is a member at another club. Most important of all, talk to every Curves owner in the area. Most will be very willing to take the time to answer your questions and give honest advice.
Is $22,000 an adequate return for you? Make sure that number is real. If you don’t have to spend a lot of time, that’s a pretty good return on $30,000 but it’s not enough to live on. Because we have four clubs, we do just fine on per-club profits that would not be sufficient for most people if they have only one club. Are you going to maintain the same staffing structure? How do you intend to run the club? It usually doesn’t work well when the female owner isn’t engaged enough. Our comparable club has 3 employees and my wife manages it by phone and by being in there 1-2 times a week. Our other clubs have managers and she spends about the same time on each of them. She does not work in any of the clubs on a regular basis. She is an absolute expert on every aspect of Curves operations, which gives a solid foundation you won’t have at first. We have really good employees who have been with us (4 clubs) on average nearly 3 years. Employee turnover is no fun, so make sure you have a handle on this and a plan for how you would handle someone leaving.
This just scratches the surface. If you have additional questions, post them and I will try to respond. I don’t have the time to write on this board on a regular basis and I am surely not going to waste my time debating Jose.
Follow the advice of Kunst, it is very valuable. I think he is correct is his summation.
PKJ
Thank you for the input Kunst and. It is greatly appreciated. I will be looking at two clubs tomorrow and will take the advice given with regard to my due diligence.
Good comments graduate to post status:
http://www.franchisepick.com/insider-advice-for-curves-resale-franchise-buyers/
Amazing. A club with 223 members is selling for less than the amount Curves charges for a new franchise – $32,000 – if they were still offering new franchises in the US!
An update: The relatives who bought our two clubs for a measly buck plus debt have had to close another club they picked up for a dollar out west.
Imagine that: They couldn’t make a go of a club that cost them a DOLLAR.
More evidence that it’s not a good time to buy a Curves resale – at ANY price.
Or:
1. Your relatives should stop buying Curves clubs.
2. Don’t buy a club “out west”.
3. If a club only costs a dollar, maybe it isn’t a good buy.
We have a 6 year old club that made $62,000 (free cash flow) profit last year. Are you sure it’s not worth ANYTHING?
Not all situations are the same, and your experience is does not necessarily apply to everyone else.
And neither does yours, Kunst.
But I’d bet money – if I still HAD any after our Curves debacle – that more Curves owners are struggling than succeeding.
Congratulations on your success. You’re one of the lucky ones.
My wife just worked out at a Curves in our area and the owner says ALL Curves in the county are in big trouble. Even the usually dependable food drive currently underway at all Curves isn’t bringing in donations there comparable to those in past years, let alone new members.
Another telling note about the current state of Curves: My wife brought home a monthly newsletter from that Curves. It listed member birthdays for the month of March, and fewer than half the days had even ONE name on them. At our zenith in 2004, we had 2-3 names on just about EVERY day of every month at our club.
”My wife brought home a monthly newsletter from that Curves. It listed member birthdays for the month of March, and fewer than half the days had even ONE name on them.”
So that club must have about 15 members? Sadderbutwiser, why don’t you get on with your life? I think you are a Curves ghost.
No, Kunst. A year has 12 months in it. Multiply 15 x 12 and you get 180. I’m estimating the club has less than 200 members.
Believe me, I’d LIKE to get on with my life, but it’s a bit difficult when we’ve lost just about everything. I’m here to warn people not to make the mistake of buying a Curves resale – unless, of course, it’s one of YOUR hugely profitable clubs.
Hey, here’s an idea. Send me a check for $270,000 – the amount we lost – and I’ll stop posting here and get on with my life like this nightmare never occurred. I’ll e-mail you our mailing address, OK?
OK, sorry about my lousy math. Obviously I wrote quicker than I thought.
The point is that every situation is different. Anyone considering buying a Curves, or any business, needs to thoroughly and carefully evaluate the situation. Your particular misfortune does not necessarily mean every Curves is a bad deal or no one should ever buy one. If/when we sell, our first preference would be our managers, who are like family to us and have each been with us over 4 years. No way we would sell them a club that was going to drag them down financially. BTW, our average and median employee has been with us 2-1/2 to 3 years.
To say that Curves is a no-brainer buy-it-now would be just as wrong as your all-Curves-are-doomed position. You had family complications that contributed to your misfortune. I don’t think they are applicable to most of the people (if any — anyone out there?) looking at this forum.
If you are considering buying a Curves, do a thorough job on your research. Make sure you understand the business — it’s not that complicated. If you don’t understand it and have informed confidence that you can be successful, don’t buy it. It is true that some Curves are not going to be successful. This is not true of all Curves.
I just spent a great deal of time reading EVERYTHING on this site. And being someone with no emotion toward this subject at all wonder how people with such negative viewpoints claim those who are excited about purchasing a Curves are being “emotional”? The most emotion is coming from people who are state that buying a Curves is such a bad investment. I am someone who is interested in starting my own business and I am just looking around at my different options. If Curves is such a bad investment, then what would all you nay-sayers suggest? I am looking for a career change. I have an investor, so it is not as simply putting my money in savings. If I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t be looking to start a business. And I am not from a business background, but not scared of hard work.
Just to clarify my previous post…I am not expecting to become rich, but I would like to be able to make atleast as much as I am making now. The goal for me is the career change.
Just Looking:
If you are investigating a franchise investment with logic and rational investigation, which it appears you are, congratulations. You are rare indeed. Most people buy (and are sold) with emotion, and so react with emotion when it doesn’t work out. It’s also worth noting that when many of these franchisees invested, much less was known about this concept. A few years ago, no one knew what the effects of so much competition would be, and the difficulty 30 minute clubs would have retaining members past the first year. You are in a better position to research. And also, as unsavory as it is to say, some resale buyers may be able to make lower volume clubs work because of the losses borne by the original owners.
While they might sound negative, naysayers are providing warnings with your best interest in mind. I have seen franchise concepts fail because the franchisees were not willing to put in the hours and effort it took to succeed. I do not believe that’s the case with Curves or the 30 Minute Express Clubs. Most of these owners were willing to do whatever it took to succeed. There are definite challenges with this business model and club concept, as well as much competition. In the end, you’ve got to follow your best instincts. Just know that sometimes
“believing in yourself” just isn’t enough…
Entrepreneur magazine alone distributes fairy tales to more than 2.3 Million readers monthly. There are just a handful of places you can read uncensored comments about the not-so-happy outcomes that can occur. If the naysayers get a little loud at times, it’s because the corporate MUZAK is trying to drown them out.
Whatever you decide, have an experienced franchise attorney review the documents before you sign. Invest a few grand in due diligence and it will be the best money you’ve ever spent.
Best of luck in all you endeavor. Sean
Sean:
Thank you for the comments. And please understand that I appreciate those with less than positive comments about any franchise. I was just a little blown away by the passion in which some posted AGAINST this particular franchise. I don’t believe that a blanket statement can be made for any franchise. Some will be successful, some won’t. The Curves franchise, for example, that is located in my area is extremely successful. I, myself, am a member. I think the key is that the location is fairly isolated. The county I live in has one. The population is good to very good, but we’re are still rather rural. The Board of Supervisors see to that. The neighboring county, which has a HUGE population (urban/suburban), has twenty-seven! They make a limited profit. My point being, the people that own the one where I live are doing extremely well with no competition. However, the neighboring county, these clubs are 3 to 7 miles apart and do OK, but would do much better if there were like 13 clubs rather than 27 to choose from. I don’t know of any that closed. I did hear about a couple that were thinking of closing about 5 years ago, but sold instead. These particular owners had opened the businesses and walked away waiting for the dollars to roll in. When they sold one had less than 30 members. The new owners were more hands on and have made that particular club very successful. I believe if someone were looking to purchase a Curves franchise they really need to look at the yearly decline. This could be for a number of reasons. The “copy cat” franchises, the economy, etc. I do believe that there is a market for these club, just not so many of them. And about me being a member, I also get the fact that you can max out on the hydraulics. I have been told work harder on them to get my heart rate up. At this point it doesn’t matter how hard I try, I cannot get my heart rate up to that target rate. I think Contours Express has a good idea with the equipment, but everything I have read is negative about the franchise.
If you don’t mind buying yourself a $30,000-a-year, 60-plus-hours-a-week job, go for it.
But if club membership is below 400 members, RUN AWAY.
400 members times $39/month = $15,600. You can add another 10% for service fees and product sales, so $17,000 in round numbers.
Rent $2500 (our highest), employees $4200 (our average, including a manager), other expenses considerably less. How do you get $17,000 in revenue down to $2,500 profit, while working 60 hours/week? You don’t.
We made $61,000 clear profit last year on a club that averaged 378 members. 300 members is a successful club, 400 members is great. 200 is a little over break-even — don’t go there unless you have reality-based reasons to think you can improve the situation.
Sadderbutwiser, you are a bitter ghost. You already died, apparently due to problems with relatives. Please go on to the next world and quit haunting those of us still living with your sad story.
sadderbutwiser is correct in being cautious. He has felt the reality of owning a failing franchise concept designed only to make the Franchisor money. I agree some make money but many more are failing. Just yesterday I noticed another Curves with a For lease sign in the window. I know the owner (had) 3 of them and now he only has 1 and it will be closing by the summer. Women I talk to do not want to go to curves because they get not results. Curves now just raised there monthky rate to $39.00 month, $10.00 more for the same old stuff. This has pushed women to join coed clubs or other womens only clubs that may still be in bussiness. I would advise you stay away form any womens only francise and if you like fitness buy and exisiting coed club and open a womens only area within the club. Women like that better and Kunst is very biased in his opeinion I thisnk anyone reading the blog should get neutral advise and honest advise from someone who has no interest in them buying a curves. After all anyone reading this blog wants the pros and cons about Curves and right now there are no Pros, Only Cons
Good luck.
I will leave to the readers to decide who is biased. Jose leads the band on that one. Sadderbutwiser had a difficult family situation that seems to have been a key factor is his experience. Jose has peddled the same bombast since the beginning of this discussion. “There are no Pros, only Cons.” I guess that’s his idea of neutral and honest advice.
I completely agree that any potential buyer needs to be cautious. I have acknowledged that Curves is a much more challenging proposition than it appeared in the early days. I do not agree that it is all doom and gloom. In the Sacramento area, I am aware of three local towns that have consolidated from two clubs to one or three to two in the last year. It would not surprise me to see some closures over time, especially if the economy turns down seriously. That said, there are quite a few clubs that are successful or very successful, as well as a number that are marginal — making some profit but not enough for comfort. A key indicator is that the Curves Smart equipment is coming to our area next week and only one club in the local Co-op is not taking it. That’s also the club most likely to fail.
There is a difference between being cautious and being negative. Jose and Sadderbutwiser are flat-out negative. If you are interested in buying a Curves, do your research. I have given information on how to do that before. Some clubs are quite successful and stable. Obviously those will cost more. Some clubs are not as successful and will cost less. Look at membership and profit. Do not assume you can make them better unless you have a definite plan that holds up under severe analysis.
The main problem with member retention is the same as for every other kind of gym. Most people like the idea of being healthy and in shape, but when it comes down to the reality of working out regularly, they don’t do it. Members who “aren’t getting results” are invariably members who aren’t coming in.
And by the way, I have no interest in you buying a Curves. Also by the way, I think very highly of Gary Heavin and Curves International. Although there are always things to gripe about, Jose’s description of Curves as “a failing franchise concept designed only to make the Franchisor money” tells me 1) he doesn’t know what he’s talking about and 2) therefore, his advice is worthless.
I wish I’d known about this site back in 2002. We’d have avoided the biggest mistake we ever made – buying a Curves.
Sadderbutwiser: Thanks for sharing your experiences with those who are considering it now. small consolation, maybe, but your experience is helping others make a more informed decision. That’s something.
Sadderbutwiser: Not only thanks, but kudos to you and your family. I know I’m in a different blog than usual, (you have posted in Contours Express blog at one time and you caught my eye, and now I read when you post something because I’m in the same boat as you). I have seen where some people think that your family has caused your downfall. I know that was not the case. It may have contributed to it, but I’m tired of reading that it’s the only cause of your unforunate demise. People sometimes are so unfeeling and cruel when they think they are doing something different than you did to be successful. Women’s fitness gyms are becoming a thing of the past as Mr Jose has pointed out. I lost over a $100,000 in my endeavor, I know you lost more, and you have young children. Just for example, when you go on Contours website it makes me want to puke! We are the best, we will help you and support you. All lies. You were a Curves. We all thought Curves couldn’t go wrong. Well they are going under too! So Kunst, you are one of the ones who think it’s who runs the business and how you run the business that matters–no, these women’s only businesses are all going under, it’s just a matter of time. Butterfly life couldn’t even make it in my city!!!! What happens is that women will join in your area, and then quit after a while. Then new women move in and around your area and they might join, and quit. The problem is that even the new people aren’t enough to keep you in business. So you aren’t Superman any longer, and the money runs out. It’s not negativity as you say, it’s reality. God bless Mr Sadderbutwiser and his family. He had over 1100 members at one point and guess what?, it still tanked!
I must admit that our circumstances are probably a lot different than most. We had two co-owners – my wife and her niece – who each earned a salary and split the profits.
We had a single club in 2003 that we turned into a double club n early 2004 when membership hit 1,000 because members were complaining about the wait for machines. That raised our rent from $2,800 to $5,700 a month.
We live in a state ravaged by an precedented total of eight hurricanes in 2004 and 2005 that caused homeowners’ insurance rates to soar, and a state that also got caught up in a housing boom that sent property taxes skyrocketing. Suddenly, the members weren’t coming through the doors like before. We started seeing a dropoff in membership in late 2005, and it has continued for the new owners.
We also purchased the rights to an unsold, available territory to our west – where most of our members lived – to keep any potential new owners from luring them from us. Unfortunately, there was no available retail space in that new territory, so we had to wait for a shopping complex to be built. Delays pushed back our opening date from May 2006 to November 2006 and cost overruns just killed us. Since we had signed an agreement with Curves stating we’d be open by May, we paid franchise fees for six months on a club still under construction. Rent for the new club was – and still is – $3,200 a month.
We also reduced our original club to a single club in anticipation of losing half our membership, but we were still paying $5,700 a month until June 2007, when a new tenant moved into the office space we had walled off. Drained of all cash and unable to make rent and payroll, we were forced to surrender the clubs the following month.
Our circumstances might be unique. But member retention was our downfall and the same problem appears to be hitting Curves across the board. Our original club had 700 members in December 2006. We lost a staggering 97 members in the following month. No reason. They just quit, even original members who signed up in 2002 under the first owner. We started losing 30-40 members a month while signing up only about 8-15. Today that same club has about 250 members, while the newer club, which never got over 310 members, is at about 240. They’re both doomed clubs. I doubt they can be sold.
God bless anyone who can make Curves work these days. Considering 80 percent of ALL businesses fail in five years and 80 percent of those businesses fail in another five, I have a newfound admiration for anyone who succeeds in business. I thought we would be among the lucky ones. Knowing that members seem to drift away from health clubs after about two years, I wanted to sell our club in 2005, and cash out while we were still on top. Instead we lost just about everything, and our relationship with other family members is badly strained.
We were incredibly foolish and prideful and now are paying the price. Our young childrens’ future may be forever altered. We’re considering applying for food stamps.
Such a fate seemed inconceivable in 2004 as we accepted our franchise of the year award. The future appeared to be incredibly bright. Now it’s a nightmare from which we are desperately trying to emerge.
Great comments by Ex contours and sadderbutwiser.
They spoke experience not dreams. They are correct about the attrition rate of curves and all womens only franchises in general. The attrition rate for all clubs both Coed and womens only is high in the United States because of lack of dedication not money. People have the cash for fitness they do not have the dedication. We have raised our kids with the video game mentality , quick and easy fun. This mentality continues in the work place and in society, and this is why fitness is a difficult business. If you want to succeed you Must have an Exit plan when you buy. You must also know that your rick to success is 20% . You are fighting an up hill battle. I have stated many times in this blog that ” All womens only franchises at this time are risky” not just Curves. Some in this blog state that I am against womens only but I am not. I think a full service womens only will work in a coed club because it allows you to gain access to families, husbands and wives who want to join as a family.
If you love fitness you may think franchising is the way: for some it is, others can do as well on their own providing they have business training and are certified personal trainers with money in the bank to help in down times. Put away money in case, and your can make it. Keep cash flow coming in the door and you can make it. Do what ever you can to add activity to your business and is will grow. You can do more on your own than with a franchise because of regulations and rules, so if you can start your own do it. Fitness is Fun but can be a tough poor mans business.
Think before you buy.
What’s most frustrating is that had Curves NOT made that territory to our west available, we’d still have a single, profitable club with nearly 500 members and our savings wouldn’t have been ravaged by trying to pay the costs of TWO clubs instead of one for basically the same number of members.
Curves clearly oversaturated the market. It eventually will be their undoing.
You are correct sadderbutpoorer: Curves market saturation stratagy worked as it should. By opening as many curves as possible in one area and locking franchisees into a fixed royalty Curves makes money. Unlike the more successful frachises that charge a percentage of gross sales, those franchises benefit by not oversaturating and allowing each location to profit. Recently I met the owner of 3 coldstone creamery stores. He lost all of his money when the frachisor allowed several people to open locations adjacent to his taking not only all of his profit but killing the market also.
Every location must have a significant amount of new clients from a large area to stay in business. This is why all of the FIXED franchise fees do not work and in the long run the franchisee loses. If a franchisor is to make more each year they must do 2 things. 1. Sell alot of franchises with a fixed royalty or sell a few that make alot of money. Everyone that buys frachises think the Royaty is a bad thing, when in actuality it is a good thing provided it is based on a percentage of gross sales with a minimum cap. I think sadderbutwiser may have thought the same thing when he bought Curves, How much money could save not how much money you can make.
Please NOTE::: You do not go into business to save money, you go into business to make money. And you must spend money at some point to make more.
I am closing my club that I bought as a resale in 2005. No one ever contacted me from Curves until last summer and that was only to try and talk me into buying the Smart Equipment. All they care about is $$$. As long as they are getting your money, everything is great. But once you stop the monthly draft to them, it’s a whole different story. Then they call and tell you to close up shop asap. They don’t even ask how they can help you. For example, I never see any commercials for Curves, only for the cereal, which does nothing for my club. They only people who make $$ off of that is Gary and his wife. Plus Curves wants you to give out free things to the members, but they don’t give anything for free to the owners or even at a discounted price. I bought my Curves for cheap, since the other owner had to get out and file bankruptcy because she closed her other club. I should have thought twice, but I had a friend who owned one and she was doing great. Well now her business is in the crapper as well as about 10 others in my immediate area, they are all for sale. But how long can you wait for a buyer, who probably will never come. And how can you honestly tell a prospective buyer they are getting into a great thing, when you know they aren’t. The only thing I will miss, is seeing my devoted members who are wonderful. If it wasn’t for them, I would have closed a year ago. But I kept thinking things would get better, but they never did. I followed the “Curves way”, though not all clubs do in my area. And they seem to be the clubs that are doing better. Some carry other supplements, have special classes and use extra equipment, like exercise balls, hool-a-hoops, etc. Well it’s time to cut my losses and move on to a more lucrative career. My advice, don’t buy a Curves and if you have one now and it’s going down hill, get out as fast as you can!
SadandStressed, I am sorry to hear about your plight. We did it the “Curves Way,” too. That worked for a few years, until the downturn started. Then Curves had no answer for its franchisees.
My wife still sees members all over town, and they ask how she’s doing, where she’s been, how much they miss her, etc. (The new owner prefers my wife not work out at her old clubs, saying it might make her feel uncomfortable to see all the membership-boosting “improvements” the new owner has made – what sheer GALL, considering membership at the clubs is STILL falling!). It takes everything my wife’s got not to tell them our sad story, but she puts on a brave face and a bright smile and tells them everything’s OK. And she still has only nice thigns to say to them about Curves. If only those members knew of the financial catastrophe that has befallen us.
The biggest thing I miss, besides my peace of mind, was the enormous sense of PRIDE I had in owning a successful business. It made me proud to be able to deliver a ton of donated food to the local food bank, to donate hundreds of toys to needy kids at Christmas, to provide an underachieving school with boxes of donated school supplies.
How did it all so wrong so quickly?
Sadderbutwiser, sadandstressed and Ex contours owner are all victims of corporate greed. It is not enough for the franchisor to make a few hundred thousand dollars yearly, they must make millions. Its the American dream to be wealthy no matter who you have to step on to get there. I will tell you of another franchise that is boasting of growth but what they are not telling you is how many over the last 6 years have failed. Anytime Fitness. Several years ago I did work for the company when they first started, I had close ties with the president and manager. I notice them boast of having 1600 franchises, Now they only have 1000. They never say what happened to the 600 lost. Same situation. The owners from Minnisota got greedy and now they sell to anyone. and they keep lowering the franchsise fee. Now I think it is $7.000 when in the past it was $15,000. The same fate will overtake the new owners. They also changed there web site which used to boast on how you can get rich quick and not work more than several hours a day. Today they push how great they are because they have a 1000 locations. Well Curves at one time had 5000 locations in the United States alone, now they JUST SAY WORLD WIDE. DOES ANYONE KNOW HOW MANY ARE REALLY OPEN TODAY. PLEASE POST THAT NUMBER FOR THE READERS SO THEY CAN SEE HOW DECEIVING NUMBERS CAN BE. To those who are victims of the franchise war, Hats off to you, Youall are brave men and women and deserve better.
I hope this blog helps others avoid buying these franchises. I think the Curves Smart will be the nail in th coffin the the struggling franchises, making no money losing all customers and now at the end trying to convince them that they need to spend more the get the long gone customer back, they would have been better off keeping women happy.
God Bless
Update I thought I would go on the Curves web site and add up all US franchises still reported. According to my calculations Curves has declined from 10,000 locations to just 6,530 locations and dropping. This is a 65% fail rate. I believe this is the highest failure rate in history of franchising. This rate is just since max territory sold out 2 years ago. Still a 2 million a month in generated royalties the Curves Franchisor !!!
Now thats Curves SMART !!!!!!!!
Smart man.