Curves International

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Curves
[[Image:|Curves Logo|]]
Type Private company
Founded Harlingen, Texas (1992)
Headquarters Waco, Texas
Key people Gary Heavin, CEO & Founder
Mike Raymond, President
Industry Fitness
Products Weight loss
Fitnesss
Exercise, Physical Fitness
Revenue $2.630 Billion(estimated) USD (2004)
Employees 10,000 (2004)
Website http://www.curves.com/

Curves, (aka Curves for Women, Curves International, Curves Fitness) is an international fitness franchise founded by Gary Heavin in 1995. Curves presently has just under 10,000 locations worldwide and an estimated 4 million plus members (as of August 16, 2006).[1] It is a privately held company by its co-founders, with corporate Offices located in 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.

Contents

[edit] History

Curves was founded by Gary Heavin and Diane Heavin. He and his wife Diane opened their first Curves in Harlingen, Texas in 1992. This new concept of 30-minute fitness, strength training, weight-loss guidance, and a comfortable environment designed for women, was immediately successful. They began to develop plans for franchising the concept, with the first opening in 1995. Curves has recently achieved a title as one of the "10 Largest Franchise Company in the World. [2] According to Curves International Inc's factsheet, Curves achieved 6,000 franchises in 7 years. Curves at one point was the fastest growing franchise in the history of franchises, but has now slipped to number two behind Subway.[3] Curves facilities are located in over 42 countries, including the United States, Canada, Europe, South America, The Caribbean, Mexico, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Japan.

[edit] Controversies

[edit] Contribution to radical organizations

In 2004, articles were written in which Curves International and its franchisees received some mixed and unwanted publicity due to its founder, Gary Heavin's political beliefs. Gary made a supposed comment in an interview with Today's Christian that he donates money to radical pro-life organizations.[4]

Because of this, several articles were written [5] and the bad press affected business of the individual franchises. Franchisees on the West Coast (specifically California) and a few in the Atlantic Northeast and Pacific Northwest were negatively affected causing an uproar from franchisees to Curves International.[6] The paper who started the whole thing, The San Francisco Chronicle, printed an article written by Ruth Rosen (a feminist see Post-feminism). Rosen accused Heavin of supporting militant anti-abortion groups. [7] However, with an open letter to the Chronicle, Heavin challenged and rebutted Rosen's article. The San Franciso Chronicle later corrected the mis-information reported by Rosen[8] and placed her on a leave of absence without pay.[9][10]

Although the errors were corrected, business was affected and some franchisees severed their ties with Curves and memberships were down.[11]

[edit] Buyout-related lawsuit

Another controversy came into play in 2005 when six Plaintiffs brought a suit against Curves, Gary Heavin and Roger Schmidt (Company attorney) for $20 million.[12][13] The plaintiffs claimed that Heavin cheated them out of their share of profits in which he and Roger Schmidt pressured them to sign a buyout contract alloting them a fraction of what they would've earned.

[edit] Awards and Recognition

  • Number 1 Best New Franchise - Entrepreneur Magazine (two years in a row)
  • Number 2 Best Franchise Overall - Entrepreneur Magazine (two years in a row)
  • The World's Fastest Growing Franchise Entrepreneur Magazine (two years in a row)
  • The World's Fastest Growing Franchise in History - Reuters News Service
  • Entrepreneur of the Year 2004 - Ernst & Young
  • Gold Effy Award - American Marketing Association
  • Visionary of the Year - Im\nternational Health & Racquet Sports Association
  • World's Largest Fitness Center Franchise - Guinness World Records

[edit] References

  1. ^ Fact Sheet. Curves International. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
  2. ^ Fact Sheet Fact Sheet. Franchise Times. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
  3. ^ Fact Sheet Fact Sheet. Curves International. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
  4. ^ Curves founder interview. Christianity Today accessdate=2006-08-17.
  5. ^ Gary Heavin, founder and CEO of the fitness chain Curves, supports pro-life causes. Snopes.com. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
  6. ^ Local Curves seeks distance from founder. Operations Save America. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
  7. ^ Kennedy, John. Rolling with the Curves. Christianity Today. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
  8. ^ Rosen, Ruth. What's Wrong with Curves?. San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
  9. ^ Sparkman, Jim (2004-05-13). Chron Admits Errors in Columns About "Curves" by Rosen and Carroll. ChronWatch. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
  10. ^ Norr, Sarah (2004-07-29). Ruth Rosen Suspended without pay. Beyond Chron.org. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
  11. ^ Local Curves seeks distance from founder. Operations Save America. Retrieved on 2006-08-17.
  12. ^ Curves for Women Being Sued for More than $20 Million. Associated Press. Retrieved on 2006-08-16.
  13. ^ Lawsuite brought against Curves and it's founder. The Garret* (2005-03-28). Retrieved on 2006-08-17.

[edit] External Links and Sources

[edit] See also

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