Posted on 11/26/2004 12:12:13 AM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
HOLLIS, MAINE - On a winding country road in the middle of nowhere, a building that once housed an antique shop now holds groups of women working out. Curves, a no-frills fitness club for women, can be found in the oddest places.
Targeting women in small-town America is part of the company's business strategy — and it's working. Curves has grown to more than 8,400 franchises in all 50 states and 28 countries, making it by far the world's No. 1 fitness center in terms of number of clubs. One in every four fitness clubs in the United States is a Curves, including 44 in the Houston area.
In some ways, Curves is the anti-club: no treadmills, no saunas, no locker rooms, no mirrors, no aerobics classes, no free weights. Forget the spandex — sweat shirts rule.
Members work out on eight to 12 hydraulic resistance machines, stopping between stations to walk or jog in place. The clubs' standard routine is over in 30 minutes and is designed to burn 500 calories.
While other clubs go after the prized 18-to-34 demographic, Curves' customers are more likely to be aging baby boomers.
Houston connection
Sharon Morrison, owner of five Curves in Maine, including the one in Hollis, said there's a comfort level and camaraderie at Curves that women can't get elsewhere. At the same time, she said, they're losing pounds and inches.
"I had joined so many clubs in my life, and all I had lost was money," Morrison said.
The company is the creation of Gary Heavin, 49, who heads Curves International in Waco. Heavin was a millionaire by age 30 after taking over a failing health club in Houston and expanding it into a chain of 17 clubs. But then came a divorce, bankruptcy and business failure. He spent 2 1/2 months in jail when he couldn't make child support payments.
In 1992, Heavin and his second wife, Diane, opened the first Curves club. It was small and simple, a place where women could feel comfortable.
Three years later, Heavin was selling franchises, and by 1998 there were 500. Curves aims to have more than 25,000 — including 8,000 in Asia and 8,000 in Europe — within five years. By comparison, Gold's Gyms and Bally Total Fitness, two of the biggest fitness clubs in the country, have about 1,000 facilities between them.
"We're the McDonald's of fitness centers in America and Canada," Heavin said.
Low cost for franchise
One reason for fast growth is the low cost. Club owners pay $29,900 for a franchise, equipment and training, plus a monthly franchise fee of $395. Club members usually pay $29 a month, far less than conventional fitness clubs.
The clubs are typically just 1,000 or 2,000 square feet or so, with few frills and low overhead and limited hours of operation. Compare that to the large multipurpose clubs, which can be 30,000 to 40,000 square feet with a full assortment of fancy machines, locker rooms and amenities.
It is that efficient business model that allows Curves to enter small markets. In Maine, you'll find a Curves in what was once a farm store in a hay field in North Yarmouth, in a former candle shop in Waterboro, and in a renovated cafe in Gorham.
Others are in small and off-the-beaten-path places like Blue Hill, Livermore Falls, Milbridge, Newcastle and Wilton.
Of the 76 Curves in Maine, 58 are in towns with fewer than 10,000 people. Thirty-one are in towns smaller than 5,000.
Creating new markets
Rather than take customers away from other clubs, Curves creates its own markets and generates customers where a customer base didn't exist.
That approach works for Denise Masalsky, 49, of Waterboro. Between Curves and a sensible diet, she has lost 48 pounds since March and has more energy than ever.
Masalsky, a fourth-grade teacher, likes the quick exercise routine at Curves, and is pleased somebody was wiling to locate a fitness club in a rural York County community, population 4,114.
"It used to be there wasn't anything around here," she said. "You always had to drive 35 to 40 minutes."
Kim Dare of Hollis has lost more than 50 pounds since joining Curves more than a year ago. Dare, who is 20, joined after she got engaged.
"I wanted to fit into my wedding dress," she said.
Conservative politics
Curves and Heavin, however, aren't without critics.
Some dismiss Curves as a fad. Heavin, a born-again Christian, has been criticized for his conservative political views and donations to anti-abortion causes. Some members have quit the clubs over his political stands.
At the annual Curves convention in Las Vegas this month, one of the topics was "the fallout from my values," Heavin said.
Heavin is credited with shaking up the fitness industry.
The Curves phenomenon has "forever altered the landscape of the worldwide fitness industry," John McCarthy, executive director of the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, wrote in a recent state-of-the-industry letter to association members.
Heavin intends to keep the company growing. There are peripheral Curves businesses, including apparel, vitamins and workout and diet books. A scheduled new line of Curves-branded products include a stretching mat, pedometer and wrist watch with a heart rate monitor.
Heavin also plans to meet with a prospective franchise owner in Japan. "Our next phase of growth is international," he said.
I still saw Roman Polanski's Piano movie on cable. It won the oscar I am told.
Woody Allen was not married to Mia and that was not his adopted daughter and I find his early work amusing.
You own stuff in your home made in Red China?
Does it bother you that your gas comes from possibly Suadi Arabia where they cut peoples heads off?
We put criminals in jail. If the deeds in these nations are so horrible, we should put an end to the madness. Do you support such a war or are you "cool with it" as well?
If Germany had not tried to expand borders, merely was content with ethnic cleansing, should we have gone to war against the Nazis?
No on the answer to moral crusading and Nazi Germany - which is a classic Republican position. In fact the USA only went to war against Germany because Germany declared war on us. Lastly, the fog of all out war allowed the Nazis to carry out the holocaust. WW2 can be said to have been a strategic failure - in that it was started to save Poland from German invasion.
I never did see the media trying to present any "balance" when they covered Ben & Jerry giving to leftist organizations saying that some customers oppose socialism, etc. etc.
Dude - I understand your point - but from a capitalist point of view I buy what provides me the best value - I don't buy based on ideology is my point. I do remember when I did no something along those lines though - Guns n Roses recorded a song by Charles Manson. I did not buy the record because I did not wamty any of my money going to Manson in the form of royalties - but to be honest by that time their music sucked so I would probably not have bought it anyway but that clinched it for me.
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