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.
My Curves is for sale. How would this situation work as to transfer of ownership through Curves Corporate to the 25 women? It is a very interesting possibility. Thanks for your input!
Co op franchise is no business at all. There is no profit in operating a co-op. In fact it adds more problems by putting more inadaquate people into business together which will cause more division on who pays the bills and who gets the money. This also puts customers last, because the co-op owners are interested in keeping it open for themselves, having a few members to help pay rent is only a convenience and not necessary. I do not think this is within the franchise agreement Curves has, this is a great way to dump the failing curves.
Just a heads-up. The South Florida law firm I mentioned in a post last year is no longer adding ex-Curves owners to its existing class-action lawsuit against Curves.
The case is still winding its way through the courts.
Today a women contacted my club and asked how we are doing. I told her we are growing faster than ever, even in this bad economy, she then said, she was surprised considering all the Curves are going out of business. I told her this is true because the concept has limited potential for lasting results and boredom is largely a factor with limited equipment and No cardio equipment. She agreed.
This is from a women who used to belong to Curves. Now the failure of Curves is even apparent among consumers leaving Curves with
a bad reputation and low customer confidence, this leads to more problems for new enrollments that do not want to sign a year contract only to be left out in the cold when the curves closes. Consumer confidence in the Curves brand once lost is very difficult to get back even impossible. This consumer confidence shows in the food products, I also noticed that the Curves cereal is 50% discounted because of lack of confidence in the name Curves. A little to late to revive this dying brand.
I saw Curves bars for sale in a dollar store today.
I expect you’ll see Curves franchises for sale in the dollar store soon:
How to Buy a Curves Franchise for $1.00… or Less!
;(
Jose
would you email me? I was hoping to your brain about something. Only if you have some time and don’t mind.
Hello Jamie
I would love to discuss. email me at ytfservice@yahoo.com
I see sean has some humor. Curves for sale at the dollar store. There is some truth to this, if the owners have to pay $10,000 to get out of their franchise agreement then why not sell for $1.00 and let the new owner pay Curves $10K and RUN as fast as you can from the franchise. This is the only way now to dump the franchise and you can bet curves will sue you even if you have no money. Do you know if Curves makes you personnally secure the all assets or can your company be responsibly.
Another sad story. A Curves in Lake Isabella, CA, with only 70 members closes its doors abruptly.
Sokoloff did contact the Sun to offer an explanation to the community and especially those who were members of her gym. After owning the business for four and one-half years, she was faced with an ever shrinking number of active members and continually rising operating costs.
‘To make a go of it realistically, I needed at least 200 regularly attending members. When I made the decision to close the doors, I had only 60 to 70,’ she said.
In hindsight, she wished that she had not closed the business in the manner she did, but cites her stress level as ‘overwhelming’ and that it caused her to make a snap decision.
Sokolff says that she is committed to repaying any monies that are owed to members and stated this in a postcard that was sent out to the ladies last week.
On a final note, she added that she was very grateful to all of the women who had attended her gym over the years.
‘They were a wonderful group of ladies and they taught me a great deal. I wish that it hadn’t to come to this.’
http://www.kvsun.com/articles/2008/06/11/news/061108-3-curves.txt
Here’s another article about a six-year-old resale club with “rising” membership of only 130 members that’s named business of the month. Hope her overhead is low!
http://news.mywebpal.com/news_tool_v2.cfm?show=localnews&pnpID=730&NewsID=909146&CategoryID=3511&on=1
This owner was ready to sell, but is risking thousands more in hopes that CurvesSmart turns things around. Good luck!
OCEAN VIEW — For Brenda Tilton, owner of the Ocean View Curves, the new CurvesSmart technology was reason enough to stay in business.
Tilton said she considered independently selling her share before attending a regional Curves meeting in February where the new series was introduced.
According to Tilton, this specialized program was a patent five years in the making and is now exclusive to Curves International.
“The CurvesSmart program looked so promising,” Tilton said. “That’s why I invested thousands of my own dollars into this expensive venture.”
http://www.delmarvanow.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080618/DW05/806180313/-1/DW
Things are getting so bad that some desperate Curves owners are offering two clubs for the price of one. From the McCord Business Brokers for sale by owner listings:
Buy 1 Get 1 Free
Tallahassee Northwest
Square Feet: 1,800
Number of Stations 8
Asking Price $45,000.00
Look curves franchise owners it’s time we take charge and band together to stop this ego driven, self described born again christian from destroying all of our franchises. The nightmare continues to expand and we must join together as a group. Lets get the class action lawsuit started. The horror stories of what we have had to endure are overwhelming and the majority of owners feel the same way. If you are an owner who has been ripped-off please contact me by emailing confidentially unhappyfranchisee [at] gmail.com as any owner who would like to join the class action lawsuit against Curves International.
Ask for your message to be forwarded to “Curves Z” and I will email back.
Now Burned by Curves.
No one told you to buy Curves, In fact you were told to have an attorney review all of your documents before you signed them, but YOU like all Curves owners thought you would get Rich quick and decided to take the risk and buy Curves. Now you blame the Franchisor for your ignorance. Why don’t you sue your attorney who advised you? If you had one. It is so easy to blame Curves. I agree the concept was a short term gain for curves and its owners, I believe they Knew that this would plateau and they over sold terrritories, but it is your right to make the right choice, I bet you spend alot of time choosing what Icecream you want to buy, but not when spending thousands on a business. I checked out curves years ago and figured out that they were oversaturating the area when I checked and I am sure your pretty smart and knew this was too good to be true. So to all that were burned if you want to get back at curves tell the truth to others in the business and help them get out of this mess and help others not to make the same mistake and join blogs advising those interested in buying Curves not too. Share your story and this will be enough. Stay away form attorneys they only look out for themselves and they will get more of your money, do not lose Twice.
Good Luck, Sorry to hear about your losses I wish you well.
I have been hearing the same story from several owners like Burned by Curves that there is a conscious effort by Curves to force out franchisees who have been around longer and pay less because they have older, flat fee contractas without all the new provisions.
Can anyone shed some light on this? Is this true?
From my experience, the angry commenters who invoke Heavin’s christianity, etc. tend to be the veterans who were in early and exposed to more of the early personal philosophy and Heavin’s mission. Now the ones that believed early and invested when there were hundreds – not thousands – of locations are being forced out.
That’s what I’m hearing. Curves owners? What’s the truth?
Some good news: My wife got a decent-paying job, on my birthday, no less. She starts Thursday. It’ll be her first regular paycheck since October 2006, when things got so bad at our Curves that she stopped paying herself.
Not sure whether it’ll help us save our house, but at least the banks have changed their surly tone a bit.
My partner and I own two clubs and have been Curves franchisees for one-year. The first was a new club (one of the last before the shut the door on new franchises), and the other a resale days before the previous owner was about to have the landlord shut the door on the facility. I’m happy to say the new club is just shy of 200 members, starting from zero, and the ailing club that had 100 members who we mostly churned is above 200. Member attrition is tough, especially given the current economic conditions, but we add members each month, and the businesses get stronger by the day.
I will agree with those who’ve said Curves expanded too fast, got into some markets that weren’t large enough to sustain them and catered to a lot of owners who weren’t business people. The consolidation you are currently seeing with the closing clubs is addressing these issues. That being said, this business isn’t tough. Service your members, market effectively and find solid employees you can rely on. Owner involvement is also paramount.
In these tough times, I wouldn’t recommend just anyone purchase a Curves. You have to have the finances to purchase and sustain the business past breakeven, the business sense to identify effective marketing opportunities and the passion to see these women succeed. There is a whole aspect of this business that is the reward from helping others, and there is a certain type of entrepreneur that caters to. Are there easier, more profitable business ventures out there? Sure. I run another business that is much more profitable than my Curves ventures. But for the right person Curves can be a wonderful, profitable opportunity. Try to filter out the extreme negativity as well as the cheerleaders on this board because the truth about this business is somewhere in the middle. Regardless, to those considering purchasing a Curves, do your research, talk to as many current and past owner’s as you can and go into this with your eyes wide open.
Congratulations if you can turn a profit with clubs that have around 200 members each.
As a Curves owner in South Florida I can say the damage has been intense with several bankruptcies, closures and the like. I survived to now (2008) only to have to close-tired of throwing good money after bad. The territories were poorly laid out and no feasibility study was ever performed by CI.
I was advised I could open another club at one time, because it was “over two miles as the crow flies” directly from the corporate office. I was not amused and decided at that point to only have the one club as I knew going forward with lack of advertising and innovation the lifespan of the product I was selling would be very limited.
I offered to add low cost health screenings that all clubs could incorporate but was advised by corporate that we “just do the circle” more brilliant advice directly from the corporate office.
To date, I have never seen anyone from the “home office” and I am now going through the process of being audited for the last two years as harrassment for getting in the lawsuit represented by Robert Zarco to recover damages from a failed business plan provided by CI.
I do remember a meeting with the area supervisors who advised all the owners that they had sold all their clubs (5), did not want to hear any negative comments, and started off the meeting with “let us pray.” Golly gee, was I ever impressed with their business acumen!!
I did have a conversation with the gentleman involved in the purchase of 700 Lady Fitness of America who advised me two years ago that the market is “oversaturated” and the only reason they took over all the clubs was the cheap price paid!
Now I am sure you still have many owners still breathing Heavin’s ether like Marci who apparently has 1100 exisisting members and 1100 new members every month(?) paying her the small city price of $29.00/month-right. Exactly where does she get her members from-she should impart her knowledge and business acumen with all the other owners if she can pull her nose out of Heavin’s @#&*!!
06/30/08 will be a day I remeber as this headache will cease to exsist and I look forward to settling with CI in court!!
I did appreciate her exciting ideas like painting the club!!! Please get me some of whatever Marci is smoking!!
Wow, this is my first time here. I did a google search to see if there was anything out there on the closing of Curves. All I can say is everyone is right. I know from personal experience all these scenarios are right. There are some that are doing good, some that are breaking even and a lot that are losing money. The area that I bought in had 5 clubs within a 3 mile radius. So that makes 6 including mine. 2 are closed out of the 6. I bought one in 2005, pretty much at the start of the decline. The club had 112 mbrs and the highest membership I had was 200. At 200 I was paying all the bills, which did not include a salary for me. As membership started declining I reduced the hrs., reduced the incentives, canceled Diane Magazine, stopped buying the curvaceous line. The club had been open for 3 yrs and the prev owner had moved to a better location at the time that I bought it. I had it for 2.5 yrs when I closed the doors. I had it for sale for about 1.5 yrs, started at $110k, $89k, $75k, $49k, $29k. There was about 20 others for sale ranging from $45 to $210k. At the co-op mtgs, it was evident that several were struggling. I did not lose my house, but I have a 1st & 2nd mortgage that I am still paying, 6 credit cards that I stopped paying because I just don’t have the money. It’s hard to let go, because you keep thinking in Jan things will get better, the next food drive, things will get better, the mammogram promotion and so on and so on and you keep pumping money in and just getting deeper in the hole. When the club closed near me I received a handful of mbrs. That owner had about 275 mbrs and transferred out about 110 to the nearest 4 clubs. As far as counting the clubs in the Curves website, well I know of 6 within our city’s metro area that have closed and they are still on the website. I know of 3 that are in the process of closing. I love Curves and believe it or not I joined a Curves once I closed mine. I love the workout. In my 6 yrs of working out,off and on, I have lost about 15 lbs, while that is not a lot I look much better and feel better. At 50 that is good enough for me. My cholesterol is lower, my good cholesterol is higher. My bone density is good. My opinion is that there is too many Curves near by, but not only that, the new hype is gone. Clubs that had 800-900 mbrs when they first opened now have 300. There is one one the south side of town that is new that has 500 mbrs. There is not a Curves near to her. Even without competition the 900 mbr club will never be back. The economy doesn’t help. The plaza I am in has 4 empty spaces. The small business is suffering. I feel that there will always be a demand for a similiar type program where it’s only women and a place where you can go in and do a workout and leave. I think curves is so overwhelmed with having so many clubs closed that there isn’t a whole they can do to help and I really don’t know if they would if they could. They told my friend that if she had given them more time they could have helped her sell her club. I gave them 3 mo’s notice and did not ever hear from them except to have me feel out an evaluation form. They said any money I had left over after selling my equipment was to go back to them, yeah right. Enough of the funny stuff. They also said please mail in your $5000 closing fee. Well one more joke here. I didn’t and I haven’t heard from them. The equipment is in a garage so if they want it they can come get it. If Curves survives, I predict it will with about 50% of the clubs. As for emotions, when I went to club camp, they had resale owners raise their hands to the question, ‘how many of you are previous members’ about 2/3 raised their hands. They were very proud of the fact that business people did not buy Curves, but ordinary people with a passion. That was me, because if I had looked around and seen how many Curves there was from a business point of view. I would not have bought it.
Thank you for posting, ron. I was hoping to read comments here from a former Curves owner taking part in the Zarco group action suit. I’ve been trying to get updates on how the case is proceeding without too much success.
Would you please keep us updated on the status of the case?
It is a sad day for all Curves owners. They have been cast out as bad apples and blamed for their failure, when as the former owners wrote, Curves never did the work they said they would do. I believe Curves should pay restitution to many owners for misleading them to believe they would have long term success. Gary heavin is a billionaire now thank you. and his former club owners BROKE! Just think Gary’s Great, Great: Great!! Grand kids!!!! thank all of you for securing there financial future, Thanks :)
Signed: Gary H
let us pray! Though we walk through the valley of Curves Death we shall fear no evil
( except bankruptcy and loss of home, income and marriage)
Book of
Gary Heavin Chapter 2:1-50
Thumbing through a recent business opportunities magazine at the local Wal-Mart, I saw a listing for Curves which said there were 7,311 Curves franchises in 50 states and 42 countries, a far cry from the 10,000 franchises Curves used to boast about not long ago.
Have THAT many clubs closed?
Here’s an interesting site about Curves. Check out the reader posts. One of them is from our old McCord Business Brokers agent who left McCord and started his own Curves sales site. Another lists every Curves currently for sale – all 654 of them.
http://www.bluemaumau.org/curves_slowing_down
Here’s two lists of Curves that closed or were sold as of 2007. We’re on the list.
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/CurvesExZeesfor07.pdf
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/curvesexzees0408.pdf
Jose,
I have been reading this blog and enjoy your experience. I am considering opening an independent circuit training/yoga club. Are your clubs hydraulic fitness equipment or plate loaded? How many square feet are your clubs?
thanks
FYI: I have set up a new site for buying/selling used equipment and club resales. Check it out at http://fitness.franbest.com.
There’s a pretty nominal fee for listing. If you’ve got equipment to sell, mail me at info[at]ideafarm.net about listing it.
I understand, though, that Curves owners can’t sell their equipment and can only sell their clubs through McCord Business Brokers. Is that correct?
McCord Business Brokers just happens to be the broker that Curves says is “their approved broker.” However, an owner may sell on his/her own or get another broker. It is correct that an owner is not to sell the equipment.
Dear All,
If you are looking for high end hydraulic equipment please click on my link.
I manufacture this equipment myself. The price is great and we do not charge any monthly fees, etc. We can offer training on the equipment. It is a low cost/high quality alternative and if you want to be free of franchise agreements and restrictions this would be your best bet. We are currently selling this equipment throughout the world. We are also beginning to manufacture some simple weight benches and cardio products.
Thanks,
John
[Please review SITE POLICIES & GUIDELINES. If you'd like to promote your equipment line, email info[at]ideafarm.net. Thanks]
If you are not interested in franchise agreements or purchasing an existing club please click on my website below.
[Deletion]
I manufacture this equipment and it is a low cost/high quality alternative. There are no monthly fees, franchise restrictions, etc. We offer training on the equipment. You can be an independent and unleash your entrepreneurial spirit.
We currently sell this line throughout the world.
Thanks,
John
[Please review SITE POLICIES & GUIDELINES. If anyone would like to promote their equipment line, used equipment or franchise resale, email info[at]ideafarm.net. Thanks]
John while I appreciate your attempting to sell your equipment on this site, but as curves owners have experience, Hydraulic equipment gets boring and has a limited ability to help clients. I also noticed that you are using Mytrac on your equipment which is exactly what curves does. I se no competitive edge using your equipment over curves. With no support anyone getting into this type of business will surly fail. It is not important what type of equipment you have if you have no capital to run the operation until it makes money. Fitness is a very hard industry in the United States, that is why we have so many Fat people. I can tell you and anyone interested in opening a club in this economy that your very likely to fail. I am being realistic when I say this. The large corporate clubs have gone bankrupt and are loosing sales daily. When people have no extra income they drop health clubs. Keep this in mind, You might believe your equipment is the best but I can tell you, I have the best and your equipment is not it. Thanks but no thanks.
jose,
what equipment do you use? do you have a website?
I’ve been in the fitness business since 1995.
Two things I’ve wondered about are:
1) If 30 minute circuit clubs are effective at attracting deconditioned members but lose some eventually to full service clubs, are there full service clubs that use them as satellite locations? Would a hub and spoke approach work with say a full service club in the center and 4-5 express clubs 5-10 minutes away in either direction for quick, convenience workouts?
2) Are independent 30 minute clubs able to make it? With no franchise fees or royalties, used equipment and cheap rental space, are there independent clubs making it on, say 100-200 members?
Sean
I have tried this approach and it does not work. I use the best strength equipment in the world, Stive Smart Strength the Cadillac of equipment today. I had at one time the Hydraulic equipment in one part of my club and Strive on the other. Once everyone experienced the Strive they no longer used the adjustable hydraulic equipment. Even the members who liked it originally did not use it. I donated all of the equipment and jogging squares to the city Senior Center and the Old seniors love it. It is easy to use. So if you want a few seniors get hydraulic but if you want everyone get Strive. It is expensive but worth every dollar. I use octane, Matrix Vision, Parabody and more. My Primary strength is Strive and Free weights. I find the womens only club and coed club love all of this proven effective equipment. I say to anyone wanting to buy equipment, buy great equipment and do not buy used junk equipment. Make the colors match and keep the facility very clean and have Cert Trainers to assist members and you will do great. Creating a new curves concept will never work everyone has done it and it (((HAS ))) failed and will continue to fail due to the bad name Curves has created in the industry today. Women tell me all the time they do not want a curves like health club , i am being Honest. I have no reason to lie. My clubs are doing great in this bad economy because I do things right and spend money to give my clients the best and no less. My compitition, Anytime, Powerhouse and Next level Fitness cannot compete on my level. Thanks
jose,
I know strive well. Supplied them component parts in the past. I met the designer of the equipment, Dr Lapcevik? It has been some time. At that time they were located in Sharon, PA.
comparing hydraulics and selectorized equipment is like apples and oranges.
Seniors are a growth area for hydraulics as well as Asian and European markets.
Do you have a website address for your gyms?
Wow! I got thru some of your thoughts and it’s kind of sad that 1st of all
people like Jose who have not owned this type of business spend so much time giving advice on it. Businesses fail ALL THE TIME, DAY AFTER DAY! Whether it’s Curves or something else. Peoples efforts, desire, passion and perseverance count for a lot.
You need to research any business before getting involved, and hopefully have some business sense.
But, my advise after all of that is said and done…why would you take advise from someone who failed? “SadbutWiser” obviously failed.
And my heart goes out to anyone in that situation. But, Why not seek out those that are successful in the business you want to get into?
In business there are those who fail and those who succeed, seriously, who would you go to for advise?
Martica:
Either intentionally or unintentionally, you’re overlooking an important point.
Sadderbutwiser bought a Curves franchise. Curves professes to have a proven, tested system that is supported by powerful and positive brand recognition. The company claims that they are there to guide you every step of the way: You are in business FOR yourself, but not BY yourself.
The premise is that if you follow their site location guidelines, their operational system, and their marketing recommendations, you will have a strong likelihood of success. Gaining that “strong likelihood” is not free – owners not only pay a franchise fee and ongoing royalties, they give up the freedom to make many decisions on their own.
Some franchise companies provide a strong return on the investment of fees, freedom, etc. If they don’t, then those fees and burdens can cause the business to fail. A Franchisor is entrusted to act with the franchisee’s best interest in mind. mutual success is the proposition they sold.
If Sadderbutwiser followed the system and implemented it as designed, did the advertising, took care of her members, then she did not fail… the concept failed. And seeing as though Curves are closing in by the dozens, the case could certainly be made that Curves is failing them.
I’d suggest you read Robert Lay’s story posted at http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com. Lay and his wife joined Curves early, when there were only a few hundred locations. Some of the policies and practices he alleges – if true – make it hard to believe anyone could succeed no matter how experienced or dedicated an operator you are.
Sean-
You say that- What Mr Lay alleges,make it hard to believe anyone could succeed no matter how experienced or dedicated an operator you are.
Why on earth would Mr Lay continue to purchase equipment 10 years later for his Curves if he is not profiting in some way. And why is he spending so much time and money training and purchasing equipment from a company he feels so strongly about (in a horrible way)?
As for the comment: “Neither our lawyer or ourselves ever heard anything back from Curves International so we all assumed that things were back to normal”
You and your attorney assumed……Thats just plain ignorant when you’re dealing with issues and you just choose to assume in a situation like Mr Lay’s.
What exactly is Mr Lay suing for?
I agree that in any business partnership such as a franchisee/franchisor support and advise is useful but the bottomline is you are the one responsible for day to day operations.
As for Curves selling locations so close to others, the people purchasing those were not making sound decisions to begin with…
Just how I’m feeling it…
I do wish everyone a good outcome!
P.S. Starbucks is closing 600 of its least profitable stores. Is Starbucks to blame? Does it make them a failed concept? I don’t think so.
I’m just glad the one down the street from me is not one of them :)
Love to all!
One of the common complaints about Curves is that the franchisees can never get a hold of anyone at the home office. Their calls and emails aren’t returned, their pleas for assistance go unanswered. This is hardly “in business for yourself, not by yourself” as the website states. Yet somehow their fees are collected promptly and with great efficiency.
Do you not find it a little disturbing that Curves claims Lay’s store had been terminated, yet he not only received no notice of termination, but they continued to collect royalties and advertising fees from his account? They allegedly continued to accept and fulfill orders and payments for supplies, and included him when they force shipped and billed products, such as vitamins that were about to expire?
How do you possibly come back from this story and the stories of widespread closings without grave concerns about this franchisor?
As for Starbucks… good example. Starbucks can do what they jolly well please. Why? Because Starbucks isn’t franchised. Starbucks took on investors and sold stock and, in turn, shared ownership of their company with their stakeholders. Curves grew to 10,000+ units through the investments of their franchisees… through home equity loans and second mortgages taken on their homes, with their savings accounts and credit scores, and retirement funds on the line. Curves doesn’t owe these people guaranteed success, or even success. But they do owe them the support they promised… Curves owes them its best effort to help them be successful, and to help them – not ignore them or even profit from them – when they struggle and fail.
There are many great franchise companies whose franchisees are struggling in the tough economy, and against too much competition. The difference is that the great franchise companies are working side by side with the franchisees to help them succeed as a team. Is that what Curves does?
I’m not a Curves franchise and I haven’t worked with them (after this blog I’m sure I never will) so I don’t know for sure – I ask in earnest. But there are warning signs that indicate that Curves Int’l may be in it for themselves AND by themselves, such as 1) Making sure struggling franchisees can only sell through their broker, 2) Not allowing franchisees to sell their equipment (I’m told they must donate it to a women’s prison), 3) the $10,000 failure fee Curves allegedly demands from failed franchisees, 4) Lack of field visits and on-site assistance for troubled clubs, and 5) the fact that interviews with Curves representatives when stores close exhibit lack of knowledge of and an indifference to the failed franchisee.
Curves should be in crisis-assistance mode – and should have been for the last 5 years or so. I just get a sense of cool indifference – not concern and action.
I’d love to be proved wrong… it would be great to learn these things were being done and this is just a handful of lazy whiners… Please, bring it if you got it…
Starbucks oversaturated the market, just as Curves did.
Gary Heavin once told my wife that we should cap membership at at our first club at 650 members. Maybe HE should have taken his own advice and capped sales of franchises at about 4,000-5,000. Now the market is correcting itself and Curves is down to about 7,300 clubs, but that means nearly 3,000 current owners – and the previous owners – likely are financially devastated and looking for payback.
Here’s another story that tries to put a positive spin on a Curves franchise’s move, but look closer. The club has “nearly 200 members” (in other words, far too few to break even) and moved to a new location for better “visibility” and “access” (in other words, no one was coming to the old location).
http://www.riverfallsjournal.com/articles/index.cfm?id=87976§ion=Business
Martica is very ignorant when she makes her emotional statements, she never uses facts to back up her statements. To say no one but Curves owners should have an opinion on this block is exactly shy curves is failing. It is being run like a communist cult. No franchisee can even make factual statements without Curves threatening them with a suit. I believe they no longer have control of this mess the call a franchise. Someday when all the Curves are gone, we will be able to tell the real story of this mess called Curves.
Jose-
An emotional statement would be calling someone ignorant! Didnt your mama warn you about name calling……….
I’m not for or against Curves. However, since I was considering purchasing one, I would get the opinions (both good & bad) of those who have OWNED AND WORKED ONE ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS!
That would exclude you.
There are maybe 4 or 5 unhappy Curves owners on this blog, the rest seem to be doing ok.
And then there’s you.
In this economy right now, “ok” is a good place to be for a small business owner. I’m aware of the issues and even some of the “facts” with Curves and most definitely am not ignorant.
Jose Your gym would probably benefit a lot more from you working more and not wasting so much time on this blog. It’s kind of sad that you were blogging on NEW YEAR’S EVE….obviously you have nothing better to do.
Again, I wish all of you current owners trying to make this work, the very best. For those that didnt succeed, hopefully you will succeed at other ventures. Good luck to all! Even you Jose.
P.S- Jose
Your comment:
“To say no one but Curves owners should have an opinion on this block is exactly shy curves is failing.”
Now we know the real truth why Curves is failing.
Wow, now there’s some ignorance for you.
Seems I hit a nerve with ( M) she is getting emotional. Your the perfect candidate for a Curves. Please buy one and tell everyone what a wonderful dreamland experience you have. This blog is open to all opinions and facts. The facts that both curves owners and non curves owners have are part of why this blog exist. It seems to have caught the attention of many people. As far as we know we have saved many people thousands of dollars by providing them all sides to the Curves franchise. like the $10,000.0 Going out of business fee Curves Charges. This fee is their to garauntee iof your bankrupcy and that you will never buy another thing. They make more money now opening and closing the door for new owners. I think Martica should just go buy a curves and be quite, don’t listen to us, do what you want anyway. What do we know! What does any former owner of Curves on this blog Know? Please let all of us know when you buy your Curves, We’ll be sure to look for you on the failing curves blog soon.
I would really enjoy that :)
I have wished everyone well, even you Jose.
The fact that you wish for my failure goes to show the kind of person you are ……
your hateful comments speak for themselves.
That’s why your opinions are worthless…….they are not sincere and without good intentions.
It sounds like there might be a successful Curves near you that is hurting your business. I’m sure you’re wishing for their failure as well…..so that “you can enjoy that”…..how pathetic and so so sad.
I will look to other sites where people with integrity have useful information I can use.
Again, I wish all of you the very best….bye forever!
Good luck Martica. If you buy a Curves resale club, you’re going to NEED it.
Don’t say you weren’t warned.
Until Martica has walked in our shoes she has no clue about who we are, our integrity or the like. I take HER words with a grain of salt!!!!
It is so funny how Martica ran as fast as she could when confronted with facts. She takes the low road and attacks with no fact only emotional outbursts. I love to debate the facts and normally win if I am prepared. Whoughout this blog I have read all opinions and facts from those past and present owners and I will note some observations.
Every happy curves owner on the blog lives in this “Curves can do no wrong, and is everything world” What I mean is , that they cannot look at the facts for what they are and make a logical argument, they wear the Curves colored glasses as if they are being couched to what to say. Maybe even programmed by curves to think one way is the only way. This is a typical CULT like brain programming method. Tell them enough times and they believe it as truth, and NEVER ask anyone outside the CURVES Franchise for they are infidels and no nothing of the curves world. Opeinions on this blog are blasphemy and should be stricken from the record and those like us bloggers and Former Curves owners who’s franchise failed have no business commentin on the nightmarish conditions they and there families have endured. Well thank you all for your honest stories. I have gleamed more information about curves from you then my own experience. P.S. My club is doing great ! I have the largest womens membership in the state and my Co-ed club is growing steadily. About 10 curves around me have failed and I continue to get larger. Thanks martica