At a time when many Curves For Women franchise owners are fighting for financial survival, Curves International is risking a public backlash by promotionally partnering with the divisive and highly controversial anti-gay and pro-life American Family Association.

The promotion:  Curves and American Family Radio (AFR) - an affiliate of the American Family Association (AFA) - are promoting a healthy recipe contest.  The Curves ads were nestled between politically charged pro-life stories and videos on the AFR website, and the prize included a free year membership at a Curves Club and an audio Bible dvd.

According to its website, the American Family Association (AFA) is a non-profit (501(c)(3)) organization that believes “in holding accountable the companies which sponsor programs attacking traditional family values. We also believe in commending those companies which act responsibly regarding programs they support.”   One of their main goals is to “expose the misrepresentation of the radical homosexual agenda and stop its spread though our culture.”

The controversial AFA has put pressure on a number of franchise organizations.  It picketed Southland Corporation for selling adult magazines in 7-11 stores and led a boycott of McDonald’s for contributing to supposedly supporting a gay rights organization.

The Curves For Women/AFA promotional partnership has already begun drawing the ire of the gay and lesbian community.

According to a letter sent to Curves from Paula Brooks, the publisher of the lesbian blog Lez Get Real:

In the past AFA has supported through its mis-information campaigns; the criminalization of homosexuality, has lobbied against same-sex marriage, and opposed equal-rights and hate-crime legislation that would include sexual orientation and gender identity under categories already protected and generally would like to see gays and lesbians disappear from the face of the earth.

The AFA also has called for the arrest of an openly gay Arizona Republican member of the United States House of Representatives, the boycott of the Girl Scouts of American was because it does not ban lesbian scouts or lesbian scout leaders and harassed any company the AFA even remotely thought might be supporting what it refers to as the “homosexual agenda.”
Needless to say the AFA is all and all not really an organization that as a lesbian I would really find very endearing and in the same token don’t find it very endearing that Curves would be partnering with such a group.

The blog Queers United has been actively blogging and posting comments on Twitter to “Demand that Curves drop their sponsorship and association with the anti-gay hate group known as the AFA.”

The big question:  WHY?

Why would Curves International risk kicking a hornet’s nest for a minor recipe contest promotion with little potential upside?

Why risk stirring up the media firestorm it endured in 2005 when Curves was (falsely) accused of funding radical anti-abortion groups.

Is Curves founder and born-again Christian Gary Heavin using franchisee ad money to support his personal charities?

How do Curves franchise owners feel about the promotional partnership with the American Family Association?

Read related posts here:

CURVES WATCH: Curves Franchise Posts & Discussions

Is McDonald’s Funding a “naked homosex-fest”?

McDonald’s: Did McD’s Cave to Anti-Gay Group’s Boycott?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

According to a post on Unhappy Franchisee (Curves Franchisee Blames Economy for Closing), the Albany, MN Curves shut its doors for good, and franchise owner Carol Smith blames the recession.

Smith also owns another nearby Curves.  The Albany Curves had been open for six years; Smith had owned it for two years.  According to the post, Smith contends the economy was to blame for the membership decreasing from more than 100 two years ago to about 45 at the time of closing.

Is the recession really to blame?  Or the club doomed from the start?

A frequent complaint of struggling Curves owners is that the territories they were sold were too small to be viable long term.  A  quick search reveals that the population of Albany, MN is 2,095, and the female population is 1,124

If you subtract 25% for those under 18 or too old to join, you get a 843 total potential members.

Is this really enough population to support not one - but two - Curves clubs?  Is this economy to blame - or just the last inevitable nail in the coffin?

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  SHARE A COMMENT BELOW.

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Visit FRANBEST’s: Unbiased franchise information, franchise interviews and detailed, searchable information on 400 franchise and business opportunities.

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Franchisees, customers & experts vote for their favorite new franchises at Top New Franchise: Who’s hot. Who’s not.

(FranchisePick Franchise Blog)  Thanks to the readers and contributors of FranchisePick.com, our pages contain a wealth of great franchise buying advice from insiders and franchise owners you’ll find nowhere else.  If you’ve got a question, post it and you might get a thorough and insightful answer, such as this one regarding the purchase of an existing Curve fitness franchise.  Thanks to Kunst for his/her response. 

RMZ asked:
“I am considering purchasing an existing 2.5 year old franchise in a community of 4200 (2500 women with the median age being 45.5) that has one other full-service gym.
The current owner is absentee and has actually moved to another state. Current membership is 223 with 07 gross sales of around $80K, expenses of $55 and cash flow of $22K. The owner has not advertised at all in 07, but spent about $2,000 in advertising in 06. 07 gross sales are about 25% less than 06.
“The asking price is $30K. What do you think?”

Curves for Women franchise owner Kunst replied:

“One of our clubs is similar to this. About 10,000 population and 231 members. One full-service independent gym. Our revenue and expenses are higher (your club must be at $29/month; ours is at $39). P&L profit about $16,000 last year. The problem with this situation is the population. As with all gyms, 1/3 to 1/2 of your members are going to leave each year. That means you’re keeping them on average 2-3 years, which is good, reasonable, and normal. The problem is replacing them. It is true in general that Curves membership levels are down significantly over the last several years, and the main reason is that it’s hard to replace the members you lose. In a larger community, there are fresh faces all the time, but in a smaller community like the one you’re talking about, this is probably not the case. One reason the owner hasn’t advertised is probably because everyone knows Curves is there and either is a member, was a member, or knows people who are members. The best marketing for that kind of community tends to be people-gathering events, which is more demanding of time than money.

“Here’s what I recommend to anyone considering buying a resale club:
1. Get a 2007 P&L from the owner, preferably with each month in a separate column. Analyze that puppy until you fully understand it.
2. Make sure you understand the membership numbers and how they relate to revenue. Look at product sales. If this area has been neglected, it may be an improvement opportunity for you.
3. Ask for the membership numbers by month since the club opened. You will probably see an initial spike that reached a peak and has been dropping for some time. It may or may not have leveled out.
4. Marginal (i.e., new and cancels) membership changes pretty much go straight to the bottom line. If membership drops, revenue drops with it.
5. Sometimes a new owner can energize a club and raise it to a higher level. Sometimes not. Do some due diligence and make the case both for and against this.
6. Talk to everyone you can about the club. If possible, talk to the employees. Talk to members. Have your wife join if that is feasible, or work out there on a travel pass if she is a member at another club. Most important of all, talk to every Curves owner in the area. Most will be very willing to take the time to answer your questions and give honest advice.

“Is $22,000 an adequate return for you? Make sure that number is real. If you don’t have to spend a lot of time, that’s a pretty good return on $30,000 but it’s not enough to live on. Because we have four clubs, we do just fine on per-club profits that would not be sufficient for most people if they have only one club. Are you going to maintain the same staffing structure? How do you intend to run the club? It usually doesn’t work well when the female owner isn’t engaged enough. Our comparable club has 3 employees and my wife manages it by phone and by being in there 1-2 times a week. Our other clubs have managers and she spends about the same time on each of them. She does not work in any of the clubs on a regular basis. She is an absolute expert on every aspect of Curves operations, which gives a solid foundation you won’t have at first.

“We have really good employees who have been with us (4 clubs) on average nearly 3 years. Employee turnover is no fun, so make sure you have a handle on this and a plan for how you would handle someone leaving.”

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  COMMENTS WELCOME.