In yesterday’s post on the acquisition of the 1-2-3 FIT franchise chain (1-2-3 FIT Sold to Diversified Health), I pointed out that Fort Lauderdale-based Diversified Health & Fitness has been aggressively buying up the assets of dead, dying and severely wounded franchised fitness chains.
Two years of writing about and commiserating with the franchisees of these chains has left me both hopeful that Diversified HF is genuinely dedicated to helping these franchisees, and fearful that they’re not.
I concluded with an invitation to Diversified Health & Fitness to respond to my rather cynical musings, which they quickly did with the following statement.
Dear …read more

There’s an ancient saying that’s been passed down through generations of fitness franchise bloggers:  Old Fitness Franchises Never Die, They Just Get Acquired by Diversified Health & Fitness.
And just as Blogstradamous predicted, the troubled and troubling 1-2-3 FIT franchise chain was sighted being  led across a misty field by a grim character carrying a scythe and sporting a black “Diversified Health & Fitness” hoodie.
Yes, just after aquiring the Butterfly “I’m not quite dead yet!” Life fitness chain, Diversified Health and Fitness has acquired 1-2-3 Fit, the coed express fitness club created by the supposedly dark knights of franchising, the controversial …read more

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