CURVES: Robert Lay’s Story
The American dream of owning your own successful business seems to be going up in smoke for a lot of the Curves Franchise owners. The story you are about to read may seem like a Steven King horror novel but it is a real story that has happened to my wife and I. To all of the past, present and future owners of a Curves franchise please take the time to read the whole story as at the end we explain what we plan to do and how you as an ex or present owner may want to get involved.
My wife and I had owned and operated our own business for over 20 years and had been very successful at doing so. While we were making a great income from our business there was something missing in our life. Neither us felt that we were contributing to society but just taking and we decided to make a major change in our life. That was when we heard about Curves for Women. It was a new franchise that only had 300 or so clubs and for the first time in years we both became excited at the prospect of actually helping people reach their goals. We bought our first club in 1997 located in a city of thirty thousand. From the first day it opened it was more successful than our wildest dreams. Not only were we making excellent money but the personal rewards helping people better their lives was a truly rewarding feeling. I can still remember as if it was yesterday the first time a Dr. of one of our members came in to check out what we were doing as he couldn’t believe the ch
anges his patient had gone through. She had gotten off her high blood medication and had lost over 40 pounds in 4 months. It was truly amazing and over the years we have seen it happen numerous times over and over.
We sold our first club in 2001 and bought two more franchises. My wife became a mentor for Curves International around this time and I was helping to sell franchise for Curves International as so many of are members wanted to own a club. It was at this time that we started to see problems arising with Curves International but we attributed it to the fast growth that Curves was going through. In 2002 we bought two more franchises but this time they were in what was called a metro-area instead of city under thirty thousand in population.
The first problem we encountered with Curves International was in early 2003. Curves sold a franchise that was a corridor of land between one of our franchise’s and the next city 8 miles from our southern boarder. It was obvious to us that the territory didn’t have the necessary population to support a facility and that Curves International was selling any location just out of greed and the fact that there were so many people who wanted a franchise. The people who bought that franchise tried to open up on our border but it had always been an unwritten but followed rule of Curves International that you open in the middle of your territory so that disputes between owners over stealing members from your territory didn’t arise. We immediately filed a complaint with Curves International and they stopped the new owner from opening at that location. Unfortunately for the new owners there were no other commercial locations between the two cities so they were forced into selling that franchise back to Curves International for a loss.
It was also at this time that Curves International started to change personnel. The employee’s who we had a personal relationship with that had started Curves International with Gary Heavin were leaving the company at an alarming rate. Seven employees that were the top management of Curves left or were forced out because of Gary Heavin’s greed. They ended up filling a law suit against Curves which was later settled out of court. It was at this time that Diane Heavin became involved with Curves and a whole new history was being written about how Curves was started. The original Curves member guide which was written by Gary Heavin and June Manley was taken off the market and the new Curves book authored by of course Gary Heavin was on the top 10 of the Times best seller list.. To make sure it was on the Times best seller list all the clubs had to order at least on case. That is when we as owners realized Heavin was a manipulator and not the born again Christian he portrayed to be. It was also at this time that the price to buy a franchise more than doubled in price. This came as quite a surprise as Heavin had always maintained that he would never ever increase his franchise price and he even swore on the bible in front of a group at club camp that he would never break his word on that. Well as we all know he didn’t keep that promise for long, which just shows his greed.
At this point my wife and I became quite concerned and even considered selling our business but other problems arose concerning Curves International that demanded our full attention. In 2004 another Curves location located on our boarder of one of our metro-areas hired two of our employees and stole around 15 members from our club. Both employees had signed the anti covenant not to compete and in our state those agreements are strictly enforced by the courts. We considered going to court but since it was another Curves facility we decided to file a complaint with Curves International. And to let them handle it. What a mistake that was as they did nothing. We transferred the members files but refused to transfer the money for the members dues until such time that Curves International responded to our complaint. We were told by the area director, which was a new position at Curves International, that we were trouble makers and he refused to send any of are clubs the members appreciation bags. Shortly thereafter Curves International resold the corridor of land that had been sold back to them at a loss from the previous owners and they allowed the new owners to open up in nearly the same location that they had refuse the previous owners only a year and a half before. The new owners advertised in our area and ended up getting 10 or 11 members to transfer to their club. Again we held their monthly dues but did transfer the members files. We immediately filed a complaint but again got the same response nothing. It didn’t take long for most of the members who transferred to come back to our club as the other location was small and in a very run down area and to this day that club has not shown a profit and has been sold numerous times over the years for little to nothing.
Then in 2005 the real problems with Curves International started that we are still contending with today. In one of our metro-areas a competitor by the name of Ladies Workout Express opened up right across the street from our location. Unknown to us they had hired our manager and one other employee from that location and when the employee’s left they had stolen off our computer our member files. They ended up stealing over two thirds of our membership with in a week. The employees had signed the covenant not to compete so we immediately hired a lawyer and prepared for a lawsuit. As I stated before in our state that agreement is strictly enforced but it took four months to get it into court. During this time that location was losing so much money that we decided to move the location next to our other territory so that both clubs could stay open. We sent in the required change of location form to Curves International but never heard anything back from them so we went ahead and relocated in late 05. The owners of the Ladies Workout Express eventually went broke because of the lawsuit and the fact that they would end up owing us monetary damages. They filed for bankruptcy to prevent us from collecting any monetary awards in Dec 05 but we did have the satisfaction knowing that we did what was right
In early 06 we were informed by Curves International that because we abandon that location they were terminating all of our franchise agreements. We immediately requested mediation for all of our clubs which is authorized by our franchise agreements with Curves International. We never heard back from them so we hired a lawyer in Waco, TX to represent us. He proceeded to send them a letter requesting the same mediation process and they did respond to him. They sent him letter stating that it was premature to go through the mediation process at that time as they were in the process of researching our reason for moving. Curves International continued to debit our account for the franchise and advertising fees for all the other clubs we owned but stopped talking the fees for the one territory that they stated we abandoned. The lawyer had us send Curves International a check for the fees and a new authorization form for them to deduct it from our account. Neither our lawyer or ourselves ever heard anything back from Curves International so we all assumed that things were back to normal.
In the spring of 07 we made the decision to start selling off all of our clubs and to completely retire. It didn’t take me long to sell the club we owned that wasn’t in a metro-area and I agreed to stay with the new owner’s to help train them how to run the business. We sent all the documentation into Curves International and the sale was completed by January 08. That freed my wife and I up to concentrate on our metro-area clubs and to get them ready for sale. In Feb of 08 we heard that a Curves club was opening in one of our territories within a mile of our current club. We could not understand how Curves International could do such a thing. We again filed a complaint by phone and e-mail to Curves International and several weeks later we were informed by e-mail that they didn’t know what we were talking about. We were told we didn’t own any franchises and hadn’t since we were terminated in 05. That came as quite a shock to my wife and I as our franchise and advertising fee’s had been deducted all along from our checking account and we had just recently sold a club that they were telling us we never owned. We had a local lawyer send a letter to the new owners explaining the situation and that we would be seeking legal recourse against Curves International and depending on the outcome they were opening themselves up to a potential lawsuit. During this time we had bought and paid in full for the Smart Equipment for Curves International and were waiting for the installation which was scheduled for the June 24th. On June 20th , a Friday we received a phone message telling us that the Curves Smart Installation was canceled and that we had to call Curves legal for an explanation. We left messages both e-mail and phone every 30 minutes on Monday June 23rd and finally late in the afternoon we received an e-mail stating that one of there lawyers would be in touch with us before the end of the day, They never sent an e-mail or a phone call as was promised but by mid day the next day they did respond by e-mail. It stated because of the problems with the members transfers, the fact that we abandoned a franchise, and that we had interfered with the opening of the new franchise located in our territory we weren’t approved for the Curves Smart. Yet in late May they had sent all the promotional ad material for the Curves Smart and of course we had gone to a considerable amount of expense for training the employees, advertising and promotion of the Curves Smart equipment. It was at this point that my wife and I decided that drastic action had to be taken against Heavin and Curves International.
While we still love the concept of Curves we feel that because of the deceptive and we believe fraudulent business practices that Heavin has allowed under his management Curves will eventually end up in the toilet so to speak. After spending many hours on the internet we have found that there are many lawsuits against this man and his company. Just read some of the post’s that are on franchisepick.com from owners concerning the new ten thousand fee if your club goes under and closes to the vitamins that were sold in Feb and March by Ideas in Action at a discount to owners without telling them that they would expire at the end of May. The lack of support and communication from Curves International that all of us owners are going through is intolerable. It is impossible for an owner to get through to them on the phone and good luck if you expect a call back in a timely manor. The fact that we as owners pay a lot of money for our advertising fees and have no accounting of where it is spent and a quite frankly we never see many ads in our area.
I have taken the time to do the necessary research to find several good lawyers who handle franchise law who are more than willing to help Curves owners who are having similar problems with Curves. I for one am going to go after Curves International and Gary Heavin in a court of law. These are not class action but group action lawsuit and if you don’t understand the difference contact me and I will explain it to you. There have been over 200 such lawsuit filed against Curves in the last several years and while some have been settled in mediation others are in the process of going to litigation. If you are a past or present Curves owner who has experienced these problems and want satisfaction whether it be monetary or revenge please contact me. We have several options that we can go and I for one am positive we will win as the other lawsuits have been successful so far and have set a precedent for ours. It is time for the owners of Curves franchises either past or present to stand up together and put a stop to Heavins’s ramped destruction of peoples lives just for monetary greed.
Thanks for reading our post and God Bless you all.
ARE YOU AN CURVES FRANCHISE OWNER OR FORMER CURVES FRANCHISEE?
ARE YOU FAMILIAR WITH THE CURVES FRANCHISE OPPORTUNITY?
PLEASE SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
Amanda,
I agree, I hope Howie gets what he deserves.
Just move on and put it behind you, Curves it not worth it…….
You will see life will be good again for you, just hang in there.
Good Luck for the future.
CC
Looking to sell a very nice club in Florida. We are seasonal, but do very well in winter with all of our “Snowbirds” We have a 5 year agreement and pay the minimum for fees. We would like to sell fro Apx $50,000. I think new clubs go for about 40,000. We have double of 3 machines, but no Smart equipment.
Please check everything with your state laws. They are very different from state to state. We have an llc, we set everthing up through a lawyer. Check things out yourself.
Red,
Are people actually buying new clubs from Curves International?
Good luck selling your club!
Just went to CA on business, all THREE of the clubs I used to use are gone. My local club in DE is closing the 31st. At one point, CI allowed four clubs to open in an area that could just barely support one. Now the last one is closing. We had a great group that I will miss. CI seems to have done just about everything they can to kill the golden goose.
Screwed by CI AGAIN!
We had a interested buyer, or rather someone that would take the club for FREE, with us actually PAYING all the reg and training fees for that matter.
The new prospective owner tried for FIVE WEEKS to call or email CI to ask some questions and get copies of some paperwork.
After 2 weeks of calling their corporate office every other day, and having to leave voice mail, they got a call back from some file clerk telling them that they do not accept telephone calls!?!? They were directed to contact CI via E-Mail only.
They then sent numerous emails over the following THREE WEEKS, explicitly stating they were trying to buy a franchise but wanted to get some questions answered and a copy of the Franchise Contract for review.
They never got a single reply! They came into the gym and told her (my fiance) that they have to back out because their lawyer advised them that “if this is how they work when you are trying to give them money, you don’t want to be bound to them in a 5 year contract”.
She is down to 39 members now….. THIRTY NINE PAYING MEMBERS!
Calls to regional rep are not responded to anymore, she has no idea if she even HAS a regional rep at this point.
Calls and emails to CI asking for advice or requesting a callback from someone that can discuss negotiating a potential reduction in franchise/ad fees are ignored.
Her lease is paid forward to June of this year and at that point she will be forced to lock the doors and close down because she simply does not have enough members to pay the rent let alone all the fees.
My local club just closed. It was listed for sale at about $70,000. If a buyer had taken it , wonder what the outcome would’ve been.
Curves International should answer this question. Not probable.
After 10 years we closed our franchise with Curves. Curves fitness program does work. I am speaking of circuit part of curves but not the diet. Our town had a program based on the Biggest Loser show. Three out of four years our ladies won first place and I always saw a number of ladies consistently place in the top ten. Like any exercise program discipline is crucial to success. There is only one other gym in town.
After the honeymoon period and hype we settle down to a club with memberships running between 200-250. This was enough to meet our budget
and pay bills. This year economy hit us and I used up the money in savings and
also borrowed on house to meet contractual obligations.
I chose not to resign a five year contract as they are much more restrictive than the contract 10 years ago and do not really believe that we are out of the recession contrary to what the media would have us believe.
Curves International does have problems. If they do not look at helping the franchisee rather than to keep on taking from them for every little service they offer
with narrow profit margins franchisee’s will continue to go under.
Diane’s magazine is going online however in the place where we were in business that will not work as a lot of the area is on dial up still. Also they will charge for this service to the women. I was never sure whether or not to charge for this magazine or not as Curves would change their mind on it. I offered it as a service.
If Curves is going to take away magazines and I know some clubs sold them at minimal cost then why not have a percentage go back to the individual clubs for the members that buy them.
Why not allow the circuit with other things added such as tread mills. I was probably only one of the few allowed to have an extra side line to my business but was told it would not transfer with the new franchise agreement, This did not help in trying to sell the business as I then had to explain how Curves has absolute control and you are not allowed to do anything without their permission. I also talked about what your contractual obligations are to Curves and what would happen if it failed. This was in front of a group of potential investors. Needless to say, nobody was willing to buy Curves.
I think years ago Curves was needed to get the circuit off to a great start. Today I do not feel that it is needed as circuit training is well established and Curves will be more of a hindrance then help in keeping a business going if they keep going on their present course.
They also need to know what contract you have signed. The closing orders fit on some things but not on others. I consulted a lawyer on the closing demand in regards to who owns the machines. What they are demanding is stated in a 2006 contract and not a 10 year old contract. Know your contract.
Signed,
Another Closed Franchisee
Well She/We are done…
The membership has dropped below 30! The local economy is just too poor to support a “luxury” like a gym membership, and at $30/mo or so, that’s pretty sad.
The attendance is so poor that she often gets one person through the door in a 5.5hour shift but she still hops up and gives them the full 1 on 1 treatment and smiles while she does it.
She got an email from the owner of TWO Seattle area Curves that just closed trying desperately to find a buyer for two gyms worth of equipment. So she has little hope of finding a buyer for hers. Wasn’t CI supposedly supposed to buy used equipment back if it was in good condition?
BTW CI still has the gall to send her promotional packets to try to convince her to buy the new software for their weight loss supplement system and get her to pay for the training in order to be ALLOWED to carry and sell it. It’s kind of salt in the wound at this point.
The other night, after getting an advertising email about the CI apparel she pointed out that she hasn’t sold a single shirt or other apparel item in 4 months because CI is direct marketing to her customers via email and selling the same items to them from the same retail site that she has to buy from. On top of that, the end customers can but things that are “exclusive” on the curves website that she can’t even buy to stock in her gym if she thought they might sell!
So she is drafting a letter and telling the last couple dozen members that she is closing and she just has to pray that CI won’t sue a unemployed widow with two kids in college. (literally)
Happy New Year, everyone.
FYI Curves ranked high in the December, 2011 UNHAPPY FRANCHISEE 25 ranking both in terms of readership and comments.
Congratulations, and thanks for commenting. Here’s to a happier 2012!
See December’s rankings here:
UNHAPPY FRANCHISEE 25 – December 2011
I feel that I had been taken advantage of from Linda Andrea’s the previous owner and then for Curves International not to stand by me and help me. Needless to say I have not seen a Television Camercial on the tv for 6 months then the other day I seen one. What do we pay all of those fees for? I am sure that advertising fees, Francies Fees, and Royalties are for that where are the television camercials? WERE? I brought a Curves from Linda Andrea on July 17, 2007 she hide the fact of the real membership amount. She left 54 people on the books when in fact that amount was less then what it was. She also knew at the time that she needed to make a change and that change should have been to close that location and move the current members/memberships to her location in Niagara Falls McLeod location. She is money gready. I lost the location because I couldn’t pay my fees and Curves International closed me down because I couldn’t pay because of lack of membership. This being said Curves International incoursages owner to sell. Saying that it would be better for the Curves Club if it were sold and that way it could be better managed. This is crap. They all knew what was going on the town that I was in was out of jobs and more and more were closing up in the town of Fort Erie, ON Canada. This is a not where I should have ended up out of $150.000.00 I had also taken out a bank loan so that I could stay open and that only lasted until I was closed. Curves International told me that I had a month to close the Curves Club and as this was happening they also didn’t take anymore money from members leaving me unable to pay bills and or members back. But they told the members that were calling that they would have to address me if they wanted their money back because they weren’t responsible. Yet they cancelled my club and my memberships. How can I pay anyone back without money. No wonder people are upset with this type of action that is going on. It is a dame shame that they closed me and then the club in Welland, ON Canada closed 30 days after I didn’t this guy calling me asking me to buy his equiptment that he should get something out of it all. People are gready and if this isn’t enough the previous owner e-mails me looking for the equiptment. This women is nasty she wants it all and then some. I feel that I had been taken advantage of from Linda Andrea’s the previous owner and then for Curves International not to stand by me and help me. Needless to say I have not seen a Television Camercial on the tv for 6 months then the other day I seen one. What do we pay all of those fees for? I am sure that advertising fees, Francies Fees, and Royalties are for that where are the television camercials? WERE?
A Curves is closing in my area after 2yrs. She is willing to sell just the machines to me. I am simply an individual who would like it for my personal use. Will I be in trouble for doing this? Thanks so much, Nona
I meant to mention that the franchise owner has documentation that she has fully paid for the machines. She knows she will have to fight the battles with CI. I just want to be sure I will not end up with some reprocussions. Thanks, Nona
Nope, YOU won’t get into any trouble. Any contracts are between her and curves so they may come after her over it but you have no commitments.
On another note…
My fiancee has now submitted her paperwork to CI to begin closing her gym. She still has 3 years left on her contract. CI, SO FAR, is being agreeable about the whole thing. However, they said that she has to either GIVE the equipment to another Curves, or have it scrapped, she cannot SELL it to anyone, even another Curves.
Apparently they are making that a factor in the “closing agreement”, they still have not told her what her “closing fee” will be, nor whether or not they are planning on suing her but they basically said if she doesn’t agree to the part about giving her equipment away, they will not negotiate at all and they WILL get nasty.
Her members are all very sad and have done nice things like initiate their own membership drive and even went and picketed the landlords office demanding he lower her rent. Of course they didn’t understand that the rent was the least of the concerns and really didn’t play a part in the end decision.
I was given 30 days to come up with the money. If I didn’t come up with the money I was shut down. I don’t know why they gave me anytime at all they stopped paying me anything and stop taking fees from members they closed me with no income at all I was basisly closed and pushed out without help. I also feel that if the TV commercials had been on TV like they should have been then I would have a better membership balance as it was I had less then 100 members to support me. I seen other commercial on the TV this morning this is 2 in 2 weeks not good when it comes down to it they just weren’t doing their part on promoting Curves for the owners to get the memberships needs for a business when you are paying fees for advertising then this should not be an issue as it is their buisness too and it is feeding them as well…They claim that they are christians then were is the support for their owners and why didn’t they come with the support that I needed when this was going down. Because they just don’t know that they are hurting the owners by not adverting like they promised or are they really just to ingnorant to admit they that they are making this mistake and are blind to the fact that they are hurting us by not support us.
Had CI advertised like in the agreement I would of had a bomming business and I would have been still in business to this day. I did more then my part with advertizing in my community in community papers, sending out flyers and by calling and contacting people and giving to the community with free memberships to over 100’s a year while promoting others business in the community. I feel cheated out by CI and there isn’t anything more then I could have done on my part. I did and I went above and beyond what I could do. I am now out of business and have lost my purpose,. That was my purpose and it was my life I worked at this business 14 hours a day everyday. If I wasn’t doing Curves I was thinking about Curves. I just don’t know what I am going to do without my business. I need my business back and I want to be back doing Curves.
Patricia,
I know you are feeling lost and frustrated. Please know that you are not the only one feeling this way. Many of us our devastated by what Curves International has done to our lives. They allowed clubs to be resold at a high price, but do not care because they only care about their wealth. They are greedy and wealthy at the expense of others. So many bad things have happened to good owners. We will be okay. I am sorry you are in a bad situation financially, because the previous owner sold you a worthless club and Curves International allowed this to happen. None of it makes sense. What documents did the previous owner provide when you decided to purchase? How was the purchase price established?
I always remind myself that things could be worse, and what I am going through is nothing compared to what others are enduring. This provides perspective :)
Best Wishes!
Sorry to hear about your troubles with curves. I never been a member but I know it has a lot of dedication and hard work. I would contact marks & Klein law firm. They specialize in franchise fraud and they can help if you feel cheated. I once owned a franchise and was cheated. I hired marks & Klein and they helped me recover some money back after being cheated by a franchisor. I hope this helps…
Manage your own money and interests and investments and don’t count on anyone.
I am upset about the fact that there seems to be no ergency on advertizements of CURVES for Women, if CURVES on the television and it isn’t at this point, this non-advertisements is what hurts the CURVES business. This is what is making it hard for CURVES for Women businessand the owners to staying in business, my brother said that he has never seen a advertizement on the television and he is right. CI is taking the money for advertizing and this money should have been doing it’s job and that was advertizing for the CURVES. this is a need that if it had been done then none of this would have happened to me and or to any other CURVES owner and it should be done like selling toys atToys Are Us at Christmas time. Agressively in order to ensure that all of the CURVES for Women businesses were and are busy and in all areas and all had/have members that can keep the businesses up and operational with full compasity of memberships for all CURVES.
Patricia,
I agree with you. Supposedly, Curves International isn’t using the advertising dollars for anything. The money is just sitting there. Why? Maybe for the day there are no clubs and Gary and Diane need some extra cash. Being a part of Curves really hurts us because the name is not viewed in a positive light. Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers advertise, but Curves doesn’t. Why? Gary and Diane ruin peoples lives, but that’s okay because they go to church and repent. God forgives all their sins. Does this make sense to anyone?
i AM NOT INTO BASHING CHRISTINS I WANT ANSWERS TO WHY THERE ISN’T ANY TELEVISION COMMERCIALS ON THE TELEVISION…..BASHING DOESN’T WORK I WANT ANSWERS TO THE ADVERTIZING FEES AND WHY THEY ARE NOT BEING USED TO THE BEST OF THE THAT CAN BE USED….THIS ISN’T A GOOD WAY TO CONDUCT BUSINESS….WE ALL LOSE WHEN THEY ARE NOT ADVERTIZING THE BEST WAY THAT CAN BE DONE.
Why isn’t there any commercials on television? Because they don’t care about you. They don’t care about any of us. Every decision they is for their benefit and we make the sacrifices. I am not Christian bashing, but we
are a part of an organization that is being ran by people who claim to be Christian and they aren’t. These are the worst kind of people.
I noticed there were grammatical errors in my last post, so before Curves International reads it and thinks, “Just another owner who is an idiot”, I decided to correct the mistakes.
Why are there not any commercials on television? Curves International does not care about you. They do not care about any of the franchisees. Every decision Curves International makes is for their benefit and we make all the sacrifices. I am not Christian bashing, but we are a part of an organization that is being ran by people who claim to be Christian and they are not. These are the worst kind of people.
Your comments are not needed about who they are and about weather or not they are up holding in society in the “Christian Realm” That is their choice and has nothing to do with business…..My concern is with the amount of “Advertizing that is not being met in order to run a franchise business and for it to be a great success”. I have and will not repeat myself about the why in which they live their personnal lives. My only concern is the “Advertizing and why this is not met on a daily basis and why it is not an issue or a concern even for the board of directors with CURVES International. I want any and all answers to why they have fail me as a business.
My comments have everything to do with what is going on within Curves International. Every decision you make for your club and your business effects the people around you. The business decisions you make should be based on good moral values. The business decisions Curves International makes should be based on good moral values. This is what people expect from a company that claims to “Strengthen Women”. When a corporation does not have good morals what do you expect? You cannot expect positve results. We’ve been dealing with this for years, and begging for changes but nothing changes. They do not care. What other explanation do you want?
The reason they do not advertise is because the contract they made all the franchisees sign does not REQUIRE them to advertise, and they do not HAVE to prove what they are doing with those fees. They can nebulously state that the fees are “to promote brand recognition”, in reality, they are promoting THEIR brand, not YOU. Curves is a business that makes it’s money OFF YOU, not FOR you. Their entire business model is based off selling to their franchisees, just look at how they charge you huge fees for the “privilege” of carrying their various products.
Do you really need $400 worth of training, plus another $200+ to license yet more software just to be able to purchase their weight loss shakes and then resell them at a minuscule margin, when they ALSO sell the identical product directly to your customers for LESS than you can sell it if you expect to turn a profit?
Why do they force you to purchase their “Curves” branded clothing at retail, and then turn around and sell the identical products, and sometimes products that YOU cannot even buy, directly to the public themselves on their websites?
Curves does not see you as a “partner”, you are simply a high margin customer with a CONTRACT to continue giving them money with no guarantee of any kind of return at ALL. In fact, you have LESS rights, than Jane Doe buying something directly from Curves on their website, doubt me? Try buying just ONE of something and then returning it when it doesn’t fit.
In my humble opinion, Curves International’s lack of advertising is one of the smaller issues in the failure of Curves to thrive. There are so many other compounding factors that Curves International has done to bury their franchisees that advertising is just a small nail in the coffin. In my area at the time I owned, no amount of advertising would have revived my club to the point where it would have thrived (it never thrived, even before me). My club was a resale that should never have been resold – a fiscally-poor territory that was entirely too small to support a club. If Curves truly wanted to “prune” itself and stay strong, one step in the right direction would have been to stop the resale of non-thriving clubs instead of continuing to insist it had to be the owner’s fault the club wasn’t thriving and saying a new owner would make it happen. But that wouldn’t have gained them the money from a resale and another sucker to pay monthly fees until their funds were exhausted. That aside, allowing outrageous resale prices, allowing too many Curves in a given area, not staying competitive, knocking down owners who tried innovative means to keep their doors open, and generally giving the owners a very cold, icy shoulder and placing ALL blame directly in our laps were bigger factors than where they spent our hard-earned advertising fees (as well as many, many other things mentioned on this board over and over). And when the clubs started closing left and right, what did they do? Continue the same course as always – just do what they say and the system will work and if it doesn’t, well–it must be your fault. Oh, and just in case they didn’t get enough of your money, here’s the latest thing you can buy from CI – it’ll help, really – just trust them.
Unfortunately, Curves was not holding up their end long before lack of advertising. I feel for you, have been in your shows where I felt CI did not do enough, but there is no satisfactory answer for you in regards to your advertising dollars (I doubt there ever will be). There is no long-term ownership any longer in a Curves franchise in my mind – there is just long-term financial stress and anxiety until you are able to put it behind you as best you can. I view my Curves ownership as the WORST mistake of my life, but also the BEST learning experience as well. I hope you find peace and do what you must to put this behind you.
Thank you for sharing your information and how it happen to you. I can see clearer now and understand that yes I agree that this is a money grab. They grab our money and leave us when we need them the most. One would think that they would help out their franchie since we are the one bring in the income for them to survive in the business that they are in. But instead they turn their backs on us saying that if you cann’t do it then you have failed. Yes advertizing is one of the faults that they have for sure we all know this. But they also turn their backs on us instead of saying lets work on it in all areas and get you back on track. I worked 16 hours a day some days and still because of the small area the lack of businesses in the area and because of neighbouring commitition it became a battle. A battle that I still feel to this day could have been won have I had the help from all areas. After I brought the club the landlord came in and stated to me that he didn’t give me a chance. From that day on I felt that he was watching me go under. “He knew.” He knew that it was happening because he seen what the previous owner had and how it slowly lost it growth. I just couldn’t get it back once the area lost jobs. They also lost hope that they could pay for a membership. Sure some of the previous members came back but not enough to make it. I had less then when I opened and even then the owner lied to me about the amount of members that were in the club keeping members on the books that had left months before. She was and is quite the lier as well as not to mention a person who would have paid members to come to her club. She did this by selling them memberships at the old prices. Giving away t-shirts and so on. Not a nice place to do business. It is a good exercise retine but too much of a back stabing was going on.
It sure has been an interesting and disappointing ending to my Curves experience and looking back, I would certainly have done things quite differently. I always had hope that things would get better and kept putting money into a failing venture and for a while we would be holding our own but the writing is on the wall when your revenue no longer supports your business and by doing things the Curves Way, the business goes down fast.
Being an original owner of a club for almost 10 years, it was hear breaking to finally have to declare bankruptcy with only 4 months left on my contract. There was simply no choice. I jeoporadized my family’s future on the hope that Curves would help. I jeoporadized my family’s future for my members (the ones that were left). In this process I learned that I am strong in the face of adversity.
I learned a lot about business and what not to do. I learned that no matter what, you cannot have a business based solely on membership and you can not have a business that is not progressive in nature. The circuit works; this is a given; but after time, people need other things to keep them motivated and excited to keep at it. I trusted in Curves to do right by me as a franchisee but they only had their best interests at heart. In tying our hands to what we were able to offer in our clubs, they have inevitabley started on the path to their own demise.
The fitness industry is ever changing and evolving and if you’re not with the times, you will go down. You cannot sustain a business based on membership only. Most places that make it do it by selling product at a margin that can be supported and not being undercut by the supplier helps as well. I am still dealing with the knowledge that my business failed but I am not as hard on myself as I was in the beginning when everything began to tank and I felt responsible for absolutely everything that happened.
I do take responsibility for many things that I could have and should have done differently but there is also responsibility that has to come from the franchisor whereby they are there for you when you need them the most, not running the other way. We tried for 2 years to get help and guidance from Curves but to no avail, now no Curves in our area. This experience has taught me that if and when I do go into business again, I will have safety nets in place and I will NEVER COMPROMISE MY FAMILY’S FUTURE again. I wish all Curves owners the best of luck in making it.
Thank you for sharing you knowledge and your story. If we all had insight none of us would have made any mistakes and still be in business today. But this not the given it is a give and take situation and it did more taking then giving that is for sure.
At the interm when and after the month or so that I bought the business I noted the faults on the previous owers part and I said something to her via e-mail. she never ever replied to me nor has she even taken any of this blame for the failing of the business. She is still living on cloud 9 somewhere. She is a very unrealistic and a very selfish and egotistical person. She also thinks of no one but herself and this is a proven in the way that she treats others. She had another club in the area that she sold to someone in the area not even a year later and that club too went under. This women knows what she is doing in every area and in ever transaction she does.
I also think and have thought about CI they should be behind us until we are back on top and not leave us…We are their business and for them to let us go out of business is a sad sad day for we know how much love we put into the soul of our business the endless hours days weeks months without vacation time ever. I never left to go on a cruise or a vacation of any kind. It was always business so that I would be a success. Now nothing not even a if we had of or if we do it this way.
“NO television cemmercials.” This really upsets me to see and know the lack of advertizing that could have happened and isn’t happening for Curves business owners. This was our baby. This was suppose to there today yesterday and tomorrow. Now nothing this is so not right. It’s just not right and it is cruelty to us as business owners to be treated in such a way with no regard to survive because of the ingnorance of anothers. Their lack of knowledge has cost us. We were lead into it with support and then we were dropped like pancakes flat when we needed there support the most. With nothing but a load of bills that came from the business that we no longer have to go to everyday.
This is so very sad when they wash their hands of the whole situation. They let down all of my members that I had and this was extreamly hard for me, but I didn’t have any choice at all.
I want to give all “Smart” owners a heads up. The success coaches are starting to fail. Depending on when you purchased your equipment, most warranties have expired. Re-purchase will cost $300.00 to $350.00 plus shipping.
I say re-purchase because I had to send all parts to corporate in the arrangement we were forced into in order to close our other club before completion of our 10 year agreement. If we had closed a year prior, we would not have had any penalty.
To add insult to injury, when we furst purchased, we were told that no one deciding at a later date to purchase would get any price break. Now they are selling re-furbished Smart circuits for $5000.00.
I will be relieved, soon, when our existing club’s agreement is completed. However, it is distressing to spend so much right before closure.
How long have ago did you purchase Curves Smart? Just want to know so we can get an idea of when we should expect ours to start falling apart.
We purchased Smart when it was first launched, 2007-2008. The warranty was 3 years. I should clarify that the $300.00 price is per Success Coach & Mytrak has a “sale” going on. $350.00 is CI’s price. This does not include shipping.
Make sure you have gone thru all the test processes to make sure it is indeed the Success Coach and not another issue. Before purchasing, to check, switch out a Success Coach from another machine and see if it reads correctly.
I had found that the Curves Smart needs the owners attention. If you let your staff look after it you are really subitoging yourself. Staff don’t have the passion that you have for your Curves Club. They just don’t they are being paid to be there and it is your business. If you understood this you just wouldn’t give it over to anyone who saids OH I can do it. Because they only know what you have shown them and there is something new to learn every day. If you have a passion for your business it is up to you to look out for it not your employees. You are the only Curves Smart person who should be looking after Curves Smart because it is your baby. When you buy a business you do just that and the job is your life. Like I said before I did this for 3 years 16 hours a day. This is what I did. I now have nothing to show for it. Nothing but the machines just sitting and doing nothing. I really want my business back in operation. I didn’t go in to this to fail. I wanted to do this the rest of my life. DAMIT! It hurts so bad!
Pingback: CURVES: Why Did the Curves Franchisee Association Fail? (Part 1) : Unhappy Franchisee
Are you familiar with the Curves Franchisee Association?
We invite your input and comments (under your name or anonymously) on this post:
CURVES: Why Did the Curves Franchisee Association Fail? (Part 1)
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/why-did-the-curves-franchisee-association-fail-1/
Please feel free to forward this link to interested parties.
You can see all of our Curves-related posts here: http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/category/franchisor/curves-for-women/
I have heard that Curves International is holding franchisees, including those who have completed their franchise agreements, personally liable for all royalty fees and advertising fees for 12 months after they sell their clubs.
Does anyone know if that is true? I thought the Curves Franchise Association changed this?
Did Curves change it back, or did they never honor what they agreed to with the CFA?
Did everyone see that Mike Raymond quit Curves? See http://clubindustry.com/forprofits/curves-president-mike-raymond-steps-down-20120214/?cid=nl_nb. I think the handwriting is on the wall…..
Pingback: Did CURVES President Mike Raymond Get Pruned? : Unhappy Franchisee
Fit Dude – Thanks for the tip.
Here’s our take. Please read & comment:
Did CURVES President Mike Raymond Get Pruned?
Pingback: CURVES AUSTRALIA Franchise Complaints : Unhappy Franchisee
Comments invited:
CURVES AUSTRALIA Franchise Complaints
http://www.unhappyfranchisee.com/curves-australia-franchise-complaints/
How do we australian franchisees join your class action.
Why don’t you all take it to your national current affair programs, or better still picket Heavins house. Remember what Curves keep telling us WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER
Why don’t you all take it to your national current affair programs, or better still picket Heavins house. Remember what Curves keep telling us WE ARE STRONGER TOGETHER how long are we going to let CI walk all over us.
Well do you really think that if you went to his home that it would all get better??? Really you need to take action and the action needs to be you all getting a lawyer and going to court and then maybe just maybe they will listen to the need for them to step up their game and do more television commercials.
Two a month really! How discusting!!
Patricia, you are clueless. Once you sign that franchise agreement you have no rights . Curves owners were already scamned by Robert Zarco. All 200 litigants paid Zarco close to 4k each for the honor to get their assessing kicked . Overt Lay and his ego trip encouraged these fools to feed Zarcon’s gravy train.
I didn’t close they closed me down. They stopped payments from members and they told me to close. As the previous owner sold it to me at the right time as the economy was going down and hit the area hard for the first time in a number of years. This location should have been down sized by the previous owner and not sold to anyone. She still has two other locations and she has asked me for the equipment to be given to her. This women knew what she was doing she and her family members have been owning CURVES locations in Ontario Canada for a number of years. The CURVES international should never allow it to be sold to anyone. She lied to me and the books were tampered with. The lawyer told me not to buy but I did it anyway because she was so convincing. She then started to steal members from the area and talk badly about my location saying that I didn’t know what I doing. But I let members go on several travel passes as a matter of fact I encourage it so that the grass wasn’t greener on the other side. They came back every time happy to be back. Because I was cleaner and bigger. You know that I never bad month the other CURVES at all ever.