Another PACE Club Opens Where a Curves for Women has Closed

As previously mentioned, a large part of our business in the last year or so has come from people who want to open their own non-franchise club in towns where a Curves for Women has recently closed. Many of these people have been members of the Curves that closed leaving them without a local club to workout. All of them have been pleasantly surprised with the superior quality of our PACE equipment.

Here is a news article on one of our latest customers to do this: http://www.journalstandard.com/entertainment/x1254713099/Working-Out-Frenchy-s-Fitness-Center-in-Durand-is-getting-people-healthier.

Some of these customers are offering a combination of women only hours during the day, then coed hours in the evening. They are very happy to be free to format their clubs anyway they like without being locked into a long-term franchise with restrictions and high fees.

Want information on how you can open your own fitness center? Call toll free 888.604.2244.

Family Express Clubs: the Convenient Fitness Centers of the Future

Look at all of the convenience stores out there. The industry leader 7-Eleven alone boasts over 30,000 locations worldwide. Why so many? Obviously there is a need; they would not stay open if there was not a demand. What attracts someone to shop at such a store? Certainly not their great prices or vast selection of goods; rather, it is a matter of “convenience”. A consumer can literally pull up to within a few feet of the door, run in, quickly purchase their much needed item and be back in their car before the radio commercial ends. To go into a large chain grocery store for the same item would an entirely different matter. First, you would need
to find a parking spot, take the long trek into the store, search the aisles for the item, try to find the “10 items or less” line without someone sneaking in 12 items, explain why you don’t have their store’s discount keytag and why you don’t want one, then trek back to your car (which now has 2 shopping carts resting against it).

Today’s large chain health clubs are much like these large grocery stores in terms of inconvenience, time consuming and intimidation. Perhaps this is why less than 20% of the US population belongs to such clubs? Perhaps this is why more and more family “express” fitness are appearing on the scene. These facilities overcome the “no time”, “intimidation” and “inconvenient” barriers that keep most people out of the large clubs. Many of these facilities offer hydraulic circuit training programs for both adults and kids. Hydraulic resistance equipment does not cause muscle soreness, requires no skill or coordination, yet produces lean muscle toning and provides a high calorie burn cardiovascular workout in a time efficient 30
minutes. There are no intimidating weight stacks, seat settings, belts, pulleys, electricity required or air hoses with hydraulic resistance equipment; just lots of movement (and sweat).

Let’s face it, with today’s fast paced society and hectic schedules, families have little time to spend together- much less work out together. Our PACE and Kids PACE Express programs are the answer. Our adult PACE program is self-administered with cues indicating when it is time to “change stations”; while our Kids PACE Express program is designed to be conducted in a class format with instructors (kids do not have the attention span to listen to a CD tell them what to do next). Both programs are designed to provide strength and cardiovascular workouts in 30 minutes. 2-3 workouts a week are all you need to see results quickly. These programs can fit into the busiest of schedules allowing you time for important things- enjoying your family!

As Curves for Women clubs close, Opportunities Open

As the manufacturers of the PACE non-franchise hydraulic exercise program (www.pacegroupexercise.com), we enjoyed a great deal of success in helping thousands of women open their own independent non-franchise clubs back in the late 90's and early 2000's as the Curves for Women phenomenon swept the country. What most of these Curves franchisees did not know is that the original Curves club in Harlingen, TX, had our PACE equipment and that Gary Heavin once sold PACE equipment. They bought into the claim that Curves invented hydraulic exercise equipment and developed the concept of circuit training. Those wise independents who did their homework found out differently and did not get locked into a franchise cookie-cutter formula.
We are now enjoying renewed success as hundreds of Curves clubs are closing across the country leaving employees and members in the lurch. We have recently had a surge of former Curves employees and members buy our PACE circuit training program instead of buying the club closing. There are apparently MANY disgruntled Curves franchisees out there (see http://www.franchisepick.com/is-curves-for-women-a-good-franchise-investment/) who feel that Curves violated their franchise agreement by oversaturating the market and their lack of support.
We who have been around the fitness industry for awhile see the downfall of Curves as inevitable given their nonadjustable equipment. Members are told to "push faster", but let's face it; a 50-60 year old woman can only push so fast in 30 seconds. Eventually, virtually 100% of Curves members will hit a plateau- that is when they get frustrated and bored- and start dropping out. I have heard many stories of how a Curves club once had 300-400 members when they first opened, then they dropped down to 50. Anyone in the fitness industry knows that in order for someone to continue to enjoy results, you must increase the resistance, intensity, duration or frequency as well as adding variety into a program.

Does the fact that Curves close are closing at an alarming rate indicate there is no need for these types of clubs any longer? Hardly. There will always be out of shape ladies who are too intimidated with the larger coed clubs; especially as the baby boomers age. Those 300-400 ladies who were once members of a Curves may still be looking for a club- one that will offer superior equipment and a variety of equipment and services.

The entrepreneurs who invest in a business that fills a need during tough times are those that will be leaders of the pack as the economy improves. We invite anyone interested in more information to call our toll free number 888-604-2244 or visit www.pacegroupexercise.com.