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Trouble at Curves International Web: www.curves.com , Twitter: Curves News , Facebook: Curves Curves International, whose 30-minute workout and singular focus on women made it among the world's fastest-growing franchise organizations, seems to be losing at least a bit of steam. Over the past three years, nearly one-third of Curve's 7,700 franchises have closed, according to a recent franchise disclosure the company filed.

In 2009, more than 1,000 Curves franchises closed while only 35 new ones opened. While opinions vary about what went wrong with Curves, experts agree on four points:

(1) the company failed to keep up with changing trends, including more flexible hours for busy working women,

(2) cheaper com- petition,

(3) the poor economy, and

(4) the company sold too many franchises that are located too close together.

Founded in 1992, Curves was an instant hit, largely because it targeted an underserved part of the market: busy and unfit women. Curves' founders believed that many women 30 years old and older cared deeply about their health and appearance but didn't want to join a fitness center full of people who were already fit.

So they created a fitness center "just for them" that was convenient, affordable, and restricted to females. The Curves "concept" was structured on a stripped-down version of the traditional fitness center, based on a tightly structured 30-minute workout using 8 to 12 exercise machines. Curves fitness centers do not have locker rooms, showers, aerobic classes, or juice bars. Instead they're designed to be convenient and quick.

Monthly dues vary, but range from about $29 to $49 per month. Curves disagrees with its critics' assessments. Mike Raymond, Curve's president, says that the majority of the franchises that have closed are due to a "pruning of the system," and that many of its franchisees bought into Curves for the wrong reasons. He says failed franchisees were motivated primarily as investors rather than owners.

Of the four reasons cited for Curves' troubles, an inability to keep up with changing trends may be the biggest culprit. Some Curves locations aren't open over Snap Fitness and Anytime Fitness, have opened in many areas, providing busy women even more flexibility than Curves. Some members may have also tired of Curves' bare-bones approach and gravitated to fitness centers that offer aerobics classes, Yoga, Pilates, and dressing rooms with showers.

According to a July 2010 article in the Wall Street Journal, Curves also gained a reputation in the fitness industry for a lack of flexibility. In fact, some Curves franchisees say they began asking headquarters for changes in their format so they could retain members, but found that their requests were largely ignored. Curves was one of the world's premier franchise organizations throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, boasting nearly 4 million members worldwide at the end of 2008. Its membership number is now sharply lower. Questions for Critical Thinking

1. Why do you think Curves has remained inflexible to change? To what degree do you think this single factor contributes to Curves' recent troubles? Do you believe that Curves will continue losing franchises, or do you think the company will recover and start growing again?

2. To what degree do you believe that Curves' headquarters (the franchisor) is culpable in the failure of so many Curves' franchise locations? Do you buy Mike Raymond's explanation for why so many Curves' franchises are going out of business?

3. If you were thinking about buying a franchise, write three questions that you'd ask a franchise organization you were thinking about buying into as a direct result of reading this feature.

4. The "You Be the VC 15.1" feature focuses on School of Rock, a franchise organization that focuses on teaching students how to play and perform rock music. If you were the CEO of School of Rock, what lessons would you learn by studying Curves' troubles?