LA WEIGHT LOSS: The Closings Begin
August 6, 2008 by Sean Kelly
Filed under LA WEIGHT LOSS, PURE WEIGHT LOSS
For months now, FranchisePick.com readers have been warning that LA Weight Loss Centers will begin closing in the same manner that Pure Weight Loss centers closed before them: with no warning and leaving members owed hundreds and thousands of dollars in prepaid services likely they’ll never and products they may never get.
Well, here come the closings:
LA WEIGHT LOSS: Multiple Centers Close in KY
LA WEIGHT LOSS: 4 Weight Loss Centers Closing in CO
LA WEIGHT LOSS: Terre Haute, IN Center Closed
LA WEIGHT LOSS: Evansville, IN Center Closes
Recent Postings:
LA Weight Loss Tosses Client Files in Dumpster
LA Weight Loss Center Closings Rumored (UPDATED)
La Weight Loss ex-employee warns of closings. Don’t prepay!
WHAT DO YOU THINK? SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.
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Although the LA Weight Loss Website says there are over 400 locations nationwide, rumor is there is only about 190 still open and more closing everyday. Add these to the closing roster:
Boise, ID
Nampa, ID
Joan
More scheduled closings are on the way–I can tell you these are closing in the next couple of weeks:
In Tennessee:
*Kingsport
*Bristol
*Johnson City
In the Atlanta Georgia Market:
*Camps Creek
*Lawrenceville
Beware! Don’t prepurchase anything!
Rita
Rita & Joan:
Can you explain the reasons for the closings? Are these particular franchisees closing, or is the entire chain struggling? Is there any end in sight to the closings?
Sorry Sean- I am just now seeing your posting.
They are closing corporate stores that are under the parent name “LATO” which stand for LA Take Over. Many of the franchise owners could no longer make it financially after the 20/20 scandal and after the PURE closings. Their businesses really took a hit. Corporate LA took over lots of centers from franchisees that were struggling to pay bills or carry inventory.
Now, corporate can’t make it with these centers either–so they are starting to close markets. They have done this in Denver, Nevada, California–and a lot of Kentucky and TN.
The coporate website says “over 450 locations”–in January it said 900 locations. I can venture a guess that there are less than 200 operating right now. They are closing lots of locations. Some I am sure is due to economics in our country–but mostly because their business model was not viable when they had to disclose fees and prices honestly.
Sean-
Here are more closings:
-All Lexington Kentucky Centers closed last week.
-LA is closing Bartlett, TN on August 29th, 2008
Thanks,
Rita
Add Huntsville, Alabama to the list of closings. FYI!!
Update on the San Diego LATO (Corporate owned take over centers) in the San Diego Market:
It looks like corporate is starting to shut down the San Diego market as well now. 3 Centers just closed the doors recently, and the centers in Chula Vista, El Cajon are rumored to be closing soon as well. That will leave only the Mission Vally, Poway and Oceaside locations open and only 3 out of the original 9 that were in operation (La Jolla was closed quite some time ago). in the San Diego area.
Now Closed:
4911 Clairemont Dr # B, San Diego, CA (858) 490-1560
1024 W Valley Pkwy, Escondido, CA (760) 737-2700
165 S El Camino Real, Encinitas, CA - (760) 632-5900
I’m steaming mad, I joined LA Weight Loss in Lexington,KY in April ,2008 for them to close in August,2008 taking my prepaid money for my visits and products. I need to lose 90 lbs. for health reasons and had lost 28 lbs. by the time they had closed. I’m sorry but I think it takes pretty low scum to skip out on all those people with no warning, taking everyone’s money and hurting all of us that need the service so bad!
The people that frequent this site feel your pain. Unfortunately, most of the LA Weight Loss locations are franchises, which are owned and run by totally separate people than the LA Weight Loss Franchise Corporation.
They apparently have a LOT of latitude over how they run their individual stores. With big differences in what they charge, how they administer the program and how they go about closing a store down.
It seems most of the franchise owners have chosen to pretty much screw their clients, often selling year long memberships and taking thousands in pre-paid fees the DAY BEFORE they’ve shut down their stores.
Unfortunately, these are NOT good people. And while most of the blame must go to the franchise owners themselves, at least some of it must also go to the Franchise Corporation. They’re the folks that promoted and sold these franchises, many of which have only been in business for 3-4 years. It’s a business model that many have questioned, and one that has proven unsuccessful over the long-term, with the formerly affiliated Pure Weight Loss going bankrupt early this year, and Nutrisystem imploding in the early to mid-90’s (when it had weight loss centers you actually visited and a very similar weight loss plan). It’s no coincidence that the founder of Nutrisystem is the same guy that now owns LA Weight Loss Franchise Corporation.
What’s even more perplexing is how they can typically charge $1000 and up from clients, and STILL not make a go of it. The mark-up on the food, supplements and LA lites is huge, and with enrollment and setup fees, most clients end up paying probably $15/week for the program itself. Somebody…somewhere is getting rich. It’s obviously NOT the franchise owners. So I’ll give you one guess who is….the owner of the Franchise Corporation.
None of this probably makes you feel any better, but what’s happened to you has happened to thousands of other people. If they continue to operate this way, the franchise owners and the Franchise Corporation will get their due…and I’m betting it will be sooner rather than later.
Interesting article from a business research company about Harold Katz, current owner of LA Weight Loss Franchise Corporation.
http://www.referenceforbusiness.com/history/Mi-Nu/NutriSystem-Inc.html
There are reports from vendors of LAWL Franchise Corporation that they will announce tomorrow (Oct. 16) that the Franchise Corporation and all LATO centers will be closed effective immediately.
What this means to franchised locations is anyone’s guess, but without the support of the Franchise Corporation, I imagine it would be difficult for the franchise stores to remain open under the name LA Weight Loss for very long.
Tom-
This is what I have heard too. They have already announced it in the TN Markets that all centers within a 300 mile radius are closing.
I am an employee at la weight loss currently in ontario. When they notify their employees of the close they give them one month and refer to it as
“merging” with other centres. clients have merged three times at are centre and they expect us to tell them again that it is only a merge and everything is ok. They go as far as to ask us not to tell the other centres so we dont create “panic” . We dont even have enough bars in our centre to give to all of our clients. What corporate is doing is wrong. They do not answer calls, they pretend like everything is fine and keep doing workshops as to keep us thinking everything is ok. They cut down our hours and if labour is too high we are sent home - you cannot live off of 20 hours a week. The best thing to do i believe is for every client to get their product and get out. The other centres who are still open but will be closing are still allowed to sell the program because they do not know. Its sick what they are doing.
I am a client in Minnesota. So far I have not read anything about any centers in my state closing. I overheard a conversation where the Duluth, MN center is closing and they were told not to tell any of their clients. Does anyone know if there are any centers in Minneapolis that are closing as well?
I am having a hard time getting the products that I paid for such as beverages, my fault for paying in advance, but all of the bars are always in. I did not pre pay for those and reading all of the information above and on other sites I am thankful I didn’t have the money!
I find this very interesting. I did an online request for franchise information in my area where Patricia Gesswein just closed down our center. This was their response Today, October 23, 2008. You can clearly see there is NO INDICATION THAT THEY HAVE CLOSED OR INTEND TO CLOSE. Are they still taking innocent franchisee’s money?!!!
L A Weight Loss Franchise Company
747 Dresher Road, Suite 150, Horsham PA 19044
Phone: 215.346.4400 Fax: 215.346.8929
Thank you for your recent interest in our LA Weight Loss Centers Franchise Opportunity. It appears that the area you expressed interest
in has already been taken. Our Franchise is awarded by area and typically for multiple units, so if a center is not currently in your area there may already be plans to open soon. If the area becomes available we will notify you. If you have interest outside your area please see below for the most current list of available territories.
United States: New areas available for exclusive development;
Fairbanks, AK (1) Center
Bangor, ME (1)
Portland / Auburn, ME (3)
Missoula, MT (1)
Yuma, AZ (2)
Salisbury, MD (1)
Roanoke, VA (4)
Grand Junction, CO (1)
Wausau, WI (1)
Medford, OR (1)
Canada: Currently all of our Canadian territories have been spoken for
except for the Montreal, Quebec market which we are actively seeking
area developers.
International: We are actively recruiting Franchisees as Area Developers
for the following Countries;
The United Kingdom,
Ireland,
Portions of Western Europe,
Mexico.
If you would like to discuss these opportunities further, you may
contact the Development Department at (888) 258-7099 or Email us at
franchise@la-weightloss.com.
I recently completed my ’services’ with LAWL in College Station, TX. On my final visit I was informed I would be receiving my rebate in a few weeks, after a month I began calling my local office only to be basically put off. I would call and every time the manager or person who I needed to talk to would be out of the office. At that time I began trying to contact the main office as the contract stated. I called and emailed them numerous times and never received a phone call or email back. I am very disappointed and disgusted that a nationwide company could act in such a way. Fortunately I lost my weight and obtained all the products I had to purchase, however it was a big hit when I did not get my rebate money back. Any suggestions on what I can do? Or is this simply lost money such as all those individuals who were left short? I actually went in person to where my LAWL -WAS- only to find the space up for lease. I thought they had relocated, but after calling and calling and each time an answering machine came on I got suspicious. Started looking online and discovered all this new information I was very much not aware of. So can anyone tell me if I’ll be able to get anything back still? Or an I out of luck? Thanks so much~
Casey
College Station, Texas
It has been reported that Rebate Checks and Refund checks are bouncing from LA across the nation….
Hi Casey,
You got a weight loss out of the program anyway. I would count my blessings if I were you. I lost only 5 pounds–I had 3 years left to go in my program and I paid in over $2000 in program fees and prepaid products which I am going to have to sue to get back! And knowing how the court system is and the laws–I will put in a lot of time and get nothing back==but I will give it a try anyway. I know my place shut down cuz the franchisee bought the business as a second owner and had to take on the previous owners clients and give them product which she lost money on. I don’t know if she even researched this before she bought but I suspect LAWL franchise headquarters never warned her about this. I joined after she bought it, but she won’t even have the decency to call me. She sat there and looked me in the eye and told me I must buy the lite bars to get proper success knowing all the while that LAWL headquarters was in trouble. I drained my savings to buy those stupid bars cuz losing weight for me is a matter of life and death. The bars were always out of stock. I think there will be a class action suit soon but if you are only hoping to get your $150 or $300 back, you are one of the lucky ones. I will never see my program completion rebate–and that is what sold me on the program was that $300 back in the end!! I would rather have lost the weight and lose the $300 any day!! I will go back to WeightWatchers or try lap band surgery–ugggh! Good old Weight Watchers worked for me in 1979, and they are still going strong. They know how to help people rather than operate with GREED. The hunger for more $$$$$ is what killed LAWL. They were never really in it to help any of us. And where are the laws to protect us little people from these big business owners?????? Unfortunately, LAWL will most likely get away with it.
Rita,
Where are you getting all your information from? I am very interested in the bounced checks.
Employees and Area Managers of the centers.
Tom: Please update us on what the vendors know. I know they just announced Birmingham, AL market is closing which is 4 more centers.
Rita
I’m a (WAS a), center manager in Texas, and we got the call 10-20-08 all the centers in TX were closing. I truly am so sad for all of the clients, the program is a great one, and works. I wish every LAWL client, past/present/disgruntled, nothing but the best of luck in reaching their weightloss goals. If you do one thing in your weightloss journey, make it this……..ONE DAY AT A TIME, DON’T BEAT YOURSELF UP IF YOU STUMBLED YESTERDAY, JUST FOCUS ON TODAY, YOU’LL GET THERE!
I wonder why the franchisees of LA Weight Loss has been so quiet? Surely there are some disgruntled franchisees out there that have some inside information as to what is going on in the company.
Sean:
More centers are scheduled to close and will be announced today. Please add these centers to your master list of LA Weight Loss Closings:
-Louisville/St. Matthews, KY
-Madison- East, WI
-Madison-West, WI
-Janesville, WI
-Rockford, WI
Thank you,
Rita
Rita…My partner and I run a small weight loss center in our home town. I was wondering if I could ask you a few questions about you experience in the industry and how the LA Weight Loss sytem works and why it’s failed.
Hi Greg and Anita-
Great nutritionally sound program with bad sales ethics. They bulked clients on products in the begining of their program often charging thousands to high interest credit cards. Weight loss center soar with “repeats” and “referrals”. When you rip people off (high interest credit, bulking, etc) it is impossible to gain good referrals.
I’ve been trying since October 14 to get my remaining la lites sent or a refund. I was promised on that day that they would be sent. Now all I get when I can talk to someone is hatefulness.
As a vendor, I can update that it looks unlikely we’ll be paid…so it’s certainly unlikely clients will receive refunds, rebates or products they’re owed.
So let’s review: a prominent, multi-millionaire owner, who invested money in LA Weight Loss through another company, Katz Capital Investment Group http://katzgroup.com/ (no doubt to protect his personal fortune) refuses to pay his bills or live up to contracts with clients.
Sad…but true.
I just returned from LAWL in Beaverton, OR only to find out our center will officially close on 11/26 and the other one across town on 12/12. We’re all being transitioned to LA On the Go. Some virtual call center in Idaho Falls, ID. I was also told that if I do not like LA On the Go, I can get a refund of my fees, but to wait a few weeks. Yeah, right! I consider myself luckier than some since my fees were $650 for my entire program of 2 yrs, but I just joined in July, and I was never pressured in to buying anything. I’ll give On the Go a try but at least I have a food plan to follow for the future on my own.
LA Weight Loss closed or is closing all six of its Milwaukee locations.
Other recent closings include:
LA Weight Loss Centers Closing in Milwaukee, WI
LA Weight Loss Center Closing in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
LA Weight Loss Centers Closing in Rochester, Minnesota
LA Weight Loss Centers Closing in Portland, OR
LA Weight Loss Center Closes in Great Falls, MT
LA Weight Loss Centers Closing in Raleigh, N.C.
I have a 150 bars owed to me. From the start i paid 2,600.00 that is service and bars would like to collect.
Has anyone successfully received a refund or the pre-paid products owed to them? If so, how? Has there been any talk of a national civil litigation? I’m in.
Let me know i will join you if you hear anything, so far i have not heard one word.
Is there any repercussions for products/services owed to people. They owe me over $800 in products. Is there an avenue for getting any of this money back?
debbie:
Where are you located?
They owe me about 800.00 in bars. i live in palm desert, ca.
I’m in Fresno, CA. I was switched to On the Go, which didn’t work-you have to call/be called at specific times-didnt work, which is why the center did (better hours of availablity). I have never received any rebates and cannot find a number to contact the On the Go center-had it but lost it. I did receive some bars, but still owed 27 boxes and 2 rebates. Anyone have the center’s number?
Hi,
I’m not happy to be writing this, but I’m an employee of L A Weight Loss in Calgary. The owner of our company informed us yesterday that they are going to be closing all their centres(through Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). I’m going to be out of a job at this horrible time. Also, my clients are going to end up losing their money, like the other people who posted comments on this board. I’m devastated about this, particularly as I just sold someone a program just this past week.This is just not right.
If you are planning on visiting L A Weight Loss, DO NOT PREPAY. You will lose your money.
And if you doubt what I’m saying, then just ask the owners directly. Hopefully they will be open to the clients about their plans too.
This is the franchise owner of LA Weight Loss in Calgary responding to your comment on this blog. We are not closing. The information on the centers closing that this person posted above is inaccurate information. We have been in business for several years and will continue to operate in the following markets that you list in your comment, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. We also do not have an employee by the name of Judy.
Regards,
Franchise Owner of Calgary
To the Franchise owner in Calgary:
Having read this blog - how do you feel about the comments and experiences that LAWL clients post on this and most other blogs. I mean, it’s all negative - rarely do I find anything positive about LAWL on line. How can you grow your business if your clients have such negative experiences? I am a client at a Calgary LAWL centre - and when I signed up the gal asked me why I think that LAWL asks for upfront payment. I was dead honest and said that obviously the business plan it to get payment so that when people quit the company still makes money. I guess it’s true. If Judy isn’t for real - think about the fact that someone made such an effort to spread a rummor that the Western Canada centres are closing.
I am glad to hear you say that there are no planned closures in Calgary - but let me ask - would you really give your clients notice of closure and would you offer any rebate of funds paid for services or product if you were to close?
Maybe you should address this with your clients - be proactive - don’t wait for them to read this stuff on line. Deal with it upfront and gain some respect as a business.