Two years ago, I posted the question IS BUTTERFLY LIFE A GREAT FITNESS FRANCHISE?
The answer came in a torrent of nearly 500 comments from franchise owners, mostly critical of the franchisor company and owners Mark Golob & Tom Gergely.
Our post Will the REAL Butterfly Life Franchise Please Wave Its Wings? prompted 162 comments, and Troubled Fitness Franchise Butterfly Life Lowers Franchisee Royalties garnered 40+ comments.
The woes of Butterfly Life franchisees were also covered by such publications as Fitness Business Pro (Butterfly Life’s Golob: Failed Franchise Owners Should Blame Themselves),  FORBES (Butterfly Life Franchise Lawsuit in Forbes) and FORTUNE (Fortune Article …read more

The “assets” of Butterfly Life, one of the ailing Curves women’s express fitness knock-off concepts, have been sold to Diversified Health & Fitness, Inc.

Diversified was founded by Roger Wittenberns in 2007, and has acquired a number of seemingly struggling, dying and/or comatose fitness franchise chains since then.
Diversified’s fitness holdings now include Liberty Fitness, Fit For Her, ShapeXpress, Access Fitness, Fit Zone, The Blitz, The Zoo, Sedona and others.
Here’s the company press release announcing the asset purchase:
FORT LAUDERDALE COMPANY ACQUIRES BUTTERFLY LIFE
Diversified Health & Fitness, Inc. of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida announces its acquisition of Butterfly Fitness, Inc., a National Chain of …read more

According to Butterfly Life CEO Mark Golob, rumors of the women’s fitness chain’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
The rumors had been rampant in recent weeks as emails were not returned, phone lines to the corporate office had been disconnected, and the company website disappeared.
Stuart Goldman, managing editor of Club Industry’s Fitness Business Pro, managed to speak to Mark Golob today about the Butterfly Life mystery.  Golob said that the company was strong, though it had downsized and they had moved to a smaller office in San Ramon.  Golob stated that the website will be back online in the next …read more

(Franchise Pick)
Read the Full Interview:
BUTTERFLY LIFE: Interview With Franchisee Matt Wilson
After attending a well-orchestrated sales seminar, Atlanta-area franchise owner Matt Wilson and his wife joined Butterfly Life with the dream of being their own boss, helping women improve their health, and getting a good return on their investment.  Once they opened their club, they claim they received no help or support in overcoming their branding and marketing challenges.  Their club closed in less than a year.
UnhappyFranchisee.com asked Matt to share the lessons of his experience, and his advice for prospective franchise owners.
UF: Matt, what was your background prior to joining …read more

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Jeff Marks, Ex-Franchisee
Butterfly Life is a women’s 30 minute fitness franchise chain that claims to be an improvement over Curves for Women. It was founded by Mark Golob, Tom Gergley, and, supposedly, Mark Mastrov. Golob & Gergley both have checkered pasts and a history of litigation in the health club industry. Many franchisees were attracted by the highly respected Mastrov (of 24 Hour Fitness), whose involvement ceased after they joined. (Read Butterfly Life Franchisees Allege Bait & Switch… of Execs)
Jeff Marks was an early, multi-unit franchisee in GA who claims to have lost $350,000 within a year …read more

BUTTERFLY LIFE: Carol King, Former Franchise Owner
Carol King is a mother and fitness advocate with a degree in physical education from Cal State Northridge. In 2004, she and childhood friend Linda Canale pursued their dream of helping women live happier, healthier lives by opening what they thought was an innovative new fitness franchise supported by a team of dedicated, experienced, trustworthy industry experts.
According to Carol, her dream of business ownership almost immediately became a personal and financial nightmare. She now puts her energies into helping to educate potential franchise owners how to avoid the same mistakes she made, and …read more

(FranchisePick.Com) Related Reading:
Fortune Article Spotlights Butterfly Life Franchise Woes
Butterfly Life Franchise Lawsuit in Forbes
Franchise Pick’s Most Volatile Posts of 2007: A Wrap-Up
Franchise Dreams Becoming Nightmares for Many Fitness Club Owners
Will the REAL Butterfly Life Franchise Please Wave Its Wings?
IS BUTTERFLY LIFE A GREAT FITNESS FRANCHISE?
Read interviews with Butterfly Life franchisees at UnhappyFranchisee.com
In Stuart Goldman’s recent industry article (Lights Out) about struggling 30 minute fitness franchise concepts provides interesting insights into several fitness franchise chains, notably the embattled Butterfly Life.
According to Goldman’s article, Butterfly Life is in litigation with franchise owners, who allege that, among other things, Butterfly Life …read more

Stuart Goldman of Club Industry’s Fitness Business Pro, a leading health club industry trade publication, has written an extensive and well-researched article on the struggling 30-minute fitness franchise chains and some of the powerful names that were instrumental in putting the match to this “hot new franchise” phenomenon.
I plan to look at particular points of this article in upcoming posts. Please share your initial comments below.
Here’s an excerpt. Click a link to read the entire article:
Source: Lights Out by Stuart Goldman, Managing Editor, Fitness Business Pro
The troubles that continue to plague circuit club companies also extend to …read more

(FranchisePick.Com) Read interviews with Butterfly Life franchisees at UnhappyFranchisee.com
Failed, failing and still-struggling club owners of the Butterfly Life women’s fitness chain have not been shy in voicing their displeasure with BL President/CEO/Founder Mark Golob and Chairman/Founder Thomas Gergley [pictured, below].
On recent FranchisePick.Com BL posts (see here and here), Golob gets the most blistering comments, with some characterizing him as “a glorified used car salesman” and “con artist” who recently sold his home for close to $2 Million and is now building his retirement home on 40 acres “with all the dead and/or dying butterflies’ money.”
Thomas Gergley does not …read more

(FranchisePick.Com)  Read interviews with Butterfly Life franchisees at UnhappyFranchisee.com
Finding reliable information on a given franchise opportunity can be a challenge. Sometimes you have to sort through wildly conflicting views and accounts.
For example, we sought out information on a fitness franchise opportunity called Butterfly Life in our post IS BUTTERFLY LIFE A GREAT FITNESS FRANCHISE?
The comments seem to be describing two different companies.
Mary Says: …the corporate staff has always lacked competence and professionalism from the beginning.
Kathy says: …There are many clubs all over the US that find a year or two later they are not even close …read more