The most oft-repeated cliche in franchise marketing materials is that when you buy a franchise you are in business FOR yourself, but not BY yourself.  And that is the way it should be.
Two important ways franchisees expect their franchisors to be there for them are:
1) that the franchisor will police the franchise system to ensure that the systemwide brand image is being upheld by their fellow franchisees, and
2) that the franchisor will be concerned for their success and will lend extra assistance to struggling or failing franchises.
An Unhappy Franchisee post today, titled CURVES: In Oregon, Curves Franchises Die Alone, …read more

Struggling, failing, soon-to-close and closed Curves franchise owners regularly share information, advice and mutual support to each other on the Unhappy Franchisee website.
One of the frequent topics is the club closing procedures, and how to negotiate with Curves International in regard to their demands for a $10,000 “failure fee,”  often tens of thousands of dollars for “future royalties,” and the Curves International policy that forbids Curves franchisees from selling their own equipment.
From the post CURVES: Robert Lay’s Story, here’s a recent exchange regarding the $10,000 closing fee:
Donna  Submitted on 2009/10/08 at 2:41pm
HELP!!! I have read some of the horror stories …read more

Outspoken Curves for Women critic and franchise owner Robert Lay will close the doors of his Las Vegas club this Friday.  Robert Lay’s journey as a Curves Owner is chronicled and discussed on Unhappy Franchisee (Read CURVES: Robert Lay’s Story)
Writes one of the Las Vegas Curves members:
… as members we are surely sorry that they had to close as it was a beautiful club and we will all miss it very much. The owners were excellent and the trainers were all very nice and motivating. It is a shame that the franchisor has turned out to so crooked. We …read more

Sometimes the experience of owning a franchise doesn’t exactly match what’s shown on the franchise sales video.
Be forewarned that whenever you own a business that deals with the public it’s only a matter of time before you enter BizarroWorld.
On Unhappy Franchisee recently, a customer accused Curves franchisee Robert Lay of calling “YELLING at a visiting member calling her a f***ing b. She had to have been 55-60!.”
Robert Lay responded with his side of the story, and his encounter with the visiting snakelady:
…she says we were rude to a member by calling her a f+++B.
Well she is correct …read more

Comments continue to come in from struggling and distressed Curves franchise owners.
On a Curves franchise post on UnhappyFranchisee, Another Curver wrote 2009/08/16 at 5:40pm:
I hope someone will buy my Curves franchise. Not because it is such a great thing to deal with CurvesInternational (CI) but because the Curves concept is fabulous, and the clubs themselves do a huge service in the community. I have to sell mine because of going thru bankruptcy because of closing my second club. Otherwise, I was trying to hold onto my club. I wasn’t making alot of money (about $1500/month for 50-60 hrs/week of work) …read more

rogers7808 writes:
I was interested in purchasing a Curves until I read some of the posts.
If Curves is such a bad deal, why has it been named “Franchisor of the Year for 2009?
Rogers7808:
There are no valid franchise awards/rankings that I know of (Though FranSurvey.Com at one time seemed to be useful and well-intentioned.  I’m not sure of its status currently). All are somehow driven by a self-serving motive. For Entrepreneur magazine, the 800 lb. gorilla of franchise rankings, it is ad sales and perpetuation of the franchise myth of great opportunities galore.
The 2009 Franchisor of the Year award was …read more

Contour Creations Inc. is out to colorize Curves and, in so doing, help Curves for Women franchise owners give their clubs a fresh new look.
Curves for Women franchise should check out the interview with Contour Creations founder Jennifer Lehn at FranBest.com (See Featured Vendor: Contour Creations Inc. Custom Fitness Pads)
Here’s an excerpt:
Contour Creations Inc. is a family owned and operated business that manufactures hand-crafted upholstered vinyl fitness pads and rollers for Curves clubs. They offer our pads in black as well as 9 different colors. Their priority is to cater to the needs of Curves owners and their …read more

When you’re considering a particular franchise opportunity, most franchisors will provide you with a wealth of sales literature, marketing brochures, videos, and legal documents (FDD), as well as an ample supply of timeworn cliches (”You’ll be in business FOR yourself, but not BY yourself”).
Franchisors should provide you with one more thing: The email or certified letter they’ll send you if you fail.
Ask for it. Get it. Read it. Think about it.
Don’t listen to the franchise salesperson when he tells you If you think negative thoughts you will kill the success fairy!
Realistic ain’t negative.  And this letter contains an important …read more

That wacky AAFD is at it again!  The American Association of Franchisees & Dealers (AAFD) has named Curves International its 2009 Franchisor of the Year!
(In other news, Bernard Madoff has been named Investment Advisor of the Year and Kim Jong Il has won the Nobel Peace Prize…)
You may remember the AAFD as the supposedly pro-franchisee organization that gave Cuppy’s Coffee the “fair franchising” award and public praise it needed to help scam many more out of $30K – $40K deposits before completely abandoning the lucky franchisees who managed to get open (and lose hundreds of thousands).
According to the breaking …read more

Curves International Inc. chief executive Gary Heavin, recently said that high SBA loan defaults were a result of “the overpriced resales of franchises between third parties.” (See QUIZNOS, COLD STONE, SUBWAY & CURVES TOP FRANCHISE LOAN DEFAULTS)
On the Unhappy Franchisee website (See CURVES: Disturbing Resale Story), a Curves franchise buyer of two existing clubs provides an example of how a resale business can be artificially, even fraudulently, inflated.  The results can be disastrous for the unsuspecting buyer.
The Curves franchise owner writes:
I am a Curves resale. I bought 2 clubs from a friend of the family, who I thought was …read more