Smith also owns another nearby Curves.  The Albany Curves had been open for six years; Smith had owned it for two years.  According to the post, Smith contends the economy was to blame for the membership decreasing from more than 100 two years ago to about 45 at the time of closing.

Is the recession really to blame?  Or the club doomed from the start?

A frequent complaint of struggling Curves owners is that the territories they were sold were too small to be viable long term.  A  quick search reveals that the population of Albany, MN is 2,095, and the female population is 1,124

If you subtract 25% for those under 18 or too old to join, you get a 843 total potential members.

Is this really enough population to support not one – but two – Curves clubs?  Is this economy to blame – or just the last inevitable nail in the coffin?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Post from: EveryJoe

CURVES FRANCHISE FAILURE: Is Economy REALLY To Blame?

In this case, franchise owner Robbi Ugini must deal with the personal and financial agony of defeat.  Her 5 employees are suddenly jobless.  Her 270 members are without a fitness club.  Her landlord has a vacant space, and her lender will, most likely, have a defaulted loan.  And the franchisor will not be receiving future royalties, revenue from purchases or advertising contributions.

What started as a dream ended in disappointment

According to the story by Nina Woo in the Honolulu Star Bulletin, Ugini opened her Curves franchise in 2005.  The initial location in the Enchanted Lake shopping center was doing well with 435 members.  Her lease was up just two years later, and Ugini relocated to another location last year, above Agnes’ Portuguese Bake Shop. The business struggled in the new location, with just 270 members.

Ugini tried selling her Curves for Women franchise for the fire sale price of $15,000, but could get no takers.  Part of what hampered the sale was the additional equipment investment the new owner would have to incur, per the franchisor’s requrements.  When a prospective buyer recently pulled out at the last minute, Ugini decided to close the doors and liquidate.  According to the article:

The closure was abrupt, leaving some 270 members in the lurch. Five staff members also lost their jobs.

“I made sure my staff was paid,” said Ugini. “I had the very best staff in the world.”

Ugini said she is working on notifying everyone of their options. She said members’ payments made on Oct. 5 have all been canceled.

Qualified members can request a travel card, she said, which allows them to use another Curves on Oahu for up to 20 days after they have been issued.

Some have gone to the Curves in Kaneohe, which is owned by a different franchise owner, but it won’t be able to take everyone.

“I am going to contact everyone,” she said. “It’s just going to take me a little more time to get to everybody.”

Some members paid on a monthly basis, some prepaid for three months and others for the entire year.

VR Business Broker calls Curves a fad and the franchisor uncaring

A business broker named Mark Heilbron, a business broker at VR Mergers & Acquisitions, had some harsh words both for the Curves franchisor and the Curves franchise fitness concept, which he categorized Curves as “a trendy kind of business.”   Heilbron said he sold a couple of Curves franchises in recent years, but has listed many that never sold (the glut of Curves resales on the market, some priced at $1.00, has been reported here.  See How to Open a Health Club for Half the Cost, and How to Buy a Curves Franchise for $1.00… or Less!).  According to the article:

“It’s a faddish type of business,” he said. “They made a lot of money and then when the trend went out, people who were still in them lost a lot of money.”

While buyers are more cautious in these economic times, Heilbron said they are still out there, with money they’d rather invest in a business than in the volatile stock market.

“Most people get talked into buying a franchise, and you’ve got to realize, depending on who the franchisor is, that most don’t care whether the franchisee makes it or not,” he said.

With the closure, Curves now has 17 locations on Oahu.  According to Curves International, the Texas-based chain has more than 7,000 locations in the U.S.

Related story (Unhappy Franchisee):  CURVES FOR WOMEN: Business Broker Slams Curves Franchise and Franchisor

CURVES FRANCHISE OWNERS: Share Your Story Here

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Read and comment on real life stories, news, controversies, warnings, opinions, rumors, and insider insights into the hidden side of franchising at Unhappy Franchisee.

Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Photo:  Bobu.  Licensed by Creative Commons.

Post from: EveryJoe

CURVES FOR WOMEN: Paradise Lost as Hawaiian Curves Franchise Closes

Thank you to our valued customers, but due to economic hardships beyond our control we are now closed.

The sign was taped to the door Friday after the Saratoga Springs, NY Quiznos served the last customer of its 2 1/2 year run.  The four partners in the franchise venture (Dan Warren and Rob Tecler of Saratoga Springs, Mike Beshara of South Glens Falls and Neil Rinehimer of Jupiter, FL) also abandoned plans to open a Wilton, NY Quiznos to which they also own the franchise rights.

Reasons for their Quiznos franchise failure?  Dan Warren says it’s a range of factors, including heavy competition, a poor location, road work in front of the store, and the burden of required purchases with added Quizno’s Corp. mark-up.

Last year, the nearby Ballston Spa Quiznos franchise closed.  Roger Sharp, who owns Quiznos franchises in Glens Falls, claims his stores are profitable but has both of them up for sale.

Read more here:  Quiznos franchise.

WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE QUIZNOS FRANCHISE?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Post from: EveryJoe

QUIZNOS: Franchisees Cite Reasons for Franchise Failure

What a difference two months makes!

Back in June, Make & Take Gourmet franchise founder Michele Bellso was claiming that the tiny NY meal assembly franchise company was thriving. An Unhappy Franchisee post on Make & Take Gourmet quoted Bellso’s aggressive growth plans:

Michele Bellso, founder and president of Make & Take Gourmet, says the company isn’t even close to reaching its full potential. Since May 2006, the company has grown to include 15 stores in five Northeast states, including two in Onondaga County, six in Rochester and one in Auburn, Watertown, and New Hartford.

“…We are on track to have 100 stores in three years,” Bellso says…”

Bellso implied that the recent failures of several franchise stores were due to those who “think they’ll make a million in the first year…”

In fact, said Bellso: “The only thing that may have changed for us is to make a better selection of our owners.”

Two months later, Syracuse.com reports that Michele & Dave Bellso are closing one of their two corporate stores, the Make & Take Gourmet in Fayetteville, NY. According to the story:

The 2-year-old Make & Take Gourmet storefront kitchen in Towne Center at Fayetteville will shut down, leaving the founding store in Cicero and a handful of franchises still operating.

In an e-mail blast to customers this afternoon, Make & Take Gourmet founder Michele Bellso wrote, “With rising fuel and food costs coupled with a sluggish economy, Make & Take Gourmet Fayetteville cannot stay open and continue delivering the level of quality you’ve come to expect.”

Dave Bellso blames the closure on a “troubling convergence of circumstances” that include, in his words:

• “We had good customers out there, just not enough of them.”
• “We just don’t have the business out there,”
• “consumers habits have changed so much in the past three or four months.”
• “Summer months… are typically slow in this business.”
• “…Expenses were way too high out there.”
• “…we had that lease, they wouldn’t change…”

According to the Make & Take Web site, there are now 12 stores. Two Onondaga County franchise locations closed within weeks of each other this past spring.

Despite the shrinking number of stores, rumors of buy-back offers extended to franchisees and pending lawsuits from failed franchise owners, the Make & Take Gourmet website continues to promote its franchise opportunity:

Thank you for your interest in a Make and Take Gourmet franchise. Meal assembly kitchens are one of the hottest trends in the food industry…

We are excited to share this exciting, proven concept with you as Make and Take Gourmet grows. Become a franchisee and discover a fabulous opportunity to be involved with a company that is focused on being the innovator and leader of the meal assembly market.

ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE BELLSOS & THE MAKE & TAKE GOURMET FRANCHISE? WHAT DO YOU THINK OF MEAL PREP KITCHEN FRANCHISES? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Post from: EveryJoe

"Leading" Meal Assembly Franchisor Make & Take Gourmet Closing Company Store

(FranchisePick.Com)

…this “golden child” of the ice cream industry continues to go undetected in their ruthless business practices, their flawed business model and their total disregard for the profitability of the franchisee.

If you are thinking about buying a [Cold Stone Creamery] franchise – DON’T DO IT!!!

J.B. Montgomery, ex-franchisee, from his Cold Stone Creamery complaint at Unhappy Franchisee

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Over at Unhappy Franchisee, a reader named J.B. Montgomery has left a scathing indictment against Cold Stone Creamery and Kahala Corp., alleging that he is an ex-franchisee victimized by franchisor “churning.”

In franchising, the term “churning” refers to the practice of reselling the same failed franchise or territory over and over for profit. It’s about as serious an allegation against a franchisor that can be made.

J.B. Montgomery alleges that he tried to sell his Cold Stone Creamery franchise, but each time he found a qualified buyer Cold Stone Creamery execs would find an excuse not to approve them. When Montgomery was finally forced to close his doors, it took Cold Stone less than two weeks to resell his failed store for a $42,000 profit.

WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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photo credit: Yanec   License:  Creative commons

Post from: EveryJoe

COLD STONE CREAMERY: Ex-Franchisee’s Scathing Indictment

(FranchisePick.Com)

Curves For Women Franchise: 20% of Curves Franchises Closed in MA,

HAS CURVES FOR WOMEN ABANDONED ITS FRANCHISE OWNERS?,

Insider Advice for Curves Resale Franchise Buyers,

200+ comments: Is Curves for Women a Good Franchise Investment?

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In a recent Concord Monitor article, AG bureau looks into gym closings, Kate Davidson reports that 2 more Curves for Women franchises have closed their doors abruptly, leaving their members stranded and their owners’ dreams dashed.  Davidson writes that unhappy members who paid for services they didn’t receive have taken their complaints to the MA Attorney General :

The attorney general’s consumer protection bureau is reviewing complaints against Curves For Women gyms in Concord and Penacook, which closed last month without notice and without refunds for members who already paid membership fees.

The Curves franchises closed during the first week in March, displacing about 400 women who worked out at the two locations, according to owners of other Curves gyms who have taken on some of the members. The memberships are transferable to any other Curves location, but compensation was not offered to women who decided not to move to a new gym.

The attorney general’s office received four complaints in March and April against Atasal Enterprises LLC – owned by Janet Lasata of Gilmanton – which was doing business as Curves For Women in Concord and Penacook.

According to Senior Assistant Attorney General Lauren Noether said the complaints were from members who had paid for services they never received.  The AG lists the complaints on its website as “open – in progress.” According to the story, Atasal Enterprises was “not in good standing” by the secretary of state’s corporation division, as the company failed to file its annual report by the April 1 deadline.

Hat tip to sadderbutwiser for the article link.  Photo:  Bobu.  Licensed by Creative Commons.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

Post from: EveryJoe

Curves Franchise Failures Prompt Attorney General’s Review