Franchise Article Author: The Franchise Guide
At the age of 20, pre-med student Gary Heavin had taken over a failing fitness center in Houston. Turning the business around within five years, he opened six more centers. After 10 years and 17 centers, Heavin’s business went under. Not wanting to give up, Heavin took lessons from the strengths and weaknesses of his first chain and decided to open a second. In 1992, Heavin opened Curves for Women, a women only fitness center, in Harlingen, Texas. The company began franchising in 1995.
Curves, (aka Curves for Women, Curves International, Curves Fitness) is an international fitness franchise. Curves presently have just under 10,000 locations worldwide and an estimated 4 million plus members (as of August 16, 2006). It is a privately held company by its cofounders, with corporate offices located in Waco, Texas. Curves fitness and weight loss facilities are designed specifically for and focused on women, although today many of the centers allow men to join. In 2006 it had 7875 US franchises, 787 Canadian franchises, 1268 foreign franchises and 2 company owned franchises.
Curves for Women are the fastest growing franchise in U.S. history. It has won number of awards and has good reputation in market. Curves for Women franchise was rated as number 1 Best New Franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine (two years in a row), Number 2 Best Franchise Overall by Entrepreneur Magazine (two years in a row), The World's Fastest Growing Franchise by Entrepreneur Magazine (two years in a row), The World's Fastest Growing Franchise in History by Reuters News Service, Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 by Ernst & Young .It has won the Gold Effy Award by American Marketing Association, Visionary of the Year award by International Health & Racquet Sports Association and holds a Guinness World Records of World's Largest Fitness Center Franchise .
With 99 percent of franchise sales coming from ‘word-of-mouth’ and only 98 percent of revenues spend on advertising, Curves for Women stands out from the crowd. Curves for Women have been the first to create a true 30 minute total fitness program and center efficient enough to operate in small towns, which is believed to help them to the top. Curves for Women franchise stands proudly among giants like McDonald's and Mail Boxes Etc. in the franchising market.
If you want to own a franchise of Curves for Women, total investment would be around $31.4K to $53.5K.Franchise fee is $24.9K to 39.9K.Ongoing royalty fee is 5%/6%.Term of agreement is for 5 years and is renewable. Qualifications required for buying a franchise of Curves for Women is that you should have a net worth capital of $75K and a cash liquidity requirement is of $50K.You should be financially stable. The minimum number of employees needed to run franchised unit is 2.Absentee ownership of franchise is allowed.
Curves for Women provides full training and support for the franchisee. The training is done at headquarters for 1 week, at franchisee's location for 4 days. The franchisee has to attend regional meetings (full day), convention (3 days) and local events (1 day) .It also provides ongoing support to the franchisee by newsletter, meetings, toll free phone line,grand opening of the outlet, internet, field operations/evaluations. It provides marketing support by advertising in the national and regional media.
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