Curves franchise gains dedicated local members

By CYNTHIA VINARSKY
VINDICATOR BUSINESS WRITER
AUSTINTOWN -- Some entrepreneurs measure their success in dollars and cents -- Debbie Hodak and Lou Gigliotti prefer to track their business growth in pounds and inches.
Hodak and Gigliotti, owners of the Curves International gym in Austintown, like to boast that their members have lost more than 3,000 inches and nearly 1,000 pounds since they opened the franchise on Mahoning Avenue last spring.
They were positive that the gym would be a success -- sure enough to sell a house in North Carolina and relocate here to start up the business.
Nevertheless, Hodak and Gigliotti said they've been amazed at the growth -- 625 members since they opened March 21.
"We have grandmothers who bring their daughters and their granddaughters," Gigliotti said.
"Our average member is around 50 and never worked out a day in her life before she came in here, and our oldest member is an 84-year-old lady, but we've also got teenagers and college students."
Based in Waco, Texas, Curves International has been growing at breakneck speed since its founders opened the first Curves gym in 1992. With more than 5,000 locations in North America and Europe, it's listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest fitness center franchise.
The gyms offer a 30-minute, no-frills workout for women only that combines strength and cardiovascular training on hydraulic resistance machines, according to the Curves officials.
Local Curves
Locally, independently owned Curves centers are open in Niles; Canfield; Boardman; Cortland; Hermitage, Pa.; Salem; Columbiana; and Austintown. The newest one is set to open Monday in Poland.
Most people in the area hadn't yet heard of Curves when Mary Ella Young opened her center on East State Street in Hermitage in January 2002. Young had been working as a receptionist and clerk at a doctor's office at the time, but she decided to invest in a Curves franchise with her ex-sister-in-law, Jody Eastlick of Tiffin, after visiting a Curves in Illinois.
They borrowed money and used some of their own savings to come up with the $20,000 franchise fee -- the fee now is closer to $25,000 -- and to lease and decorate their gym. The franchise fee includes eight specially designed workout machines, training and support, along with a company-paid mentor to help new owners through their first few days of operation.
Young said membership roles grew slowly at first, but the Hermitage center now has 325 members. Interest has grown as more Curves have opened locally, and the company's national advertising campaign has also helped.
Weight loss program
In January the partners began offering the Curves weight loss program in addition to the chain's exercise program and doubled their floor space to accommodate more growth. In July more than 40 new members signed on.
Kathy Rosa, who is opening the new Poland Curves this week on Center Road in Poland, said she started working out at the Boardman Curves soon after it opened in January.
"It was exactly what I was looking for -- cardio-vascular and strength training that doesn't take an hour and a half," she said.
Rosa didn't have a lot of weight to lose, but the exercise helped her drop six inches in the first month. Soon she and her husband, Donald, were looking into the Curves franchise program, and in March they decided to open their own center.
They found a spot in a small strip plaza -- the chain encourages a location in a secondary plaza near neighborhoods rather than a place in a major mall or shopping center.
Rosa believes her business will flourish, even though there are other Curves in nearby Canfield and Boardman.
"Women don't want to travel an hour to get to a half-hour workout," she explained. "That's why you can have so many Curves in the area and it will still work."
Dedicated members
The Curves workout is a 30-minute exercise circuit using machines designed by founders Gary and Diane Heavin.
Participants spend only 30 seconds at a time on a machine, then walk or jog in place for 30 seconds on a rest station before moving to the next machine. Recorded prompts keep the exercisers moving along, with breaks to check their pulse every eight minutes.
Curves members don't expect to see Jacuzzis, cappuccino bars or fashionable workout attire boutiques. Women dress as they please, but Hodak said most prefer comfortable sweats or T-shirts and shorts.
Members pay $29.95 a month, plus a "lifetime" $149 membership fee, which is often discounted. They're issued a computerized membership card that allows the gym to keep track of their visits and to schedule regular weight and measurement checks.
Gigliotti said the Curves program has a higher retention rate than other exercise programs because it only takes a half-hour and there's not much waiting to get on the equipment because members move through the circuit so quickly.
Eleanor Stefens, a teacher from Newton Falls, said she's lost only 3 pounds since she started visiting the Austintown Curves two months ago, but she's dropped one dress size and five inches.
"It works. I've got my daughter and my 16-year-old granddaughter coming too," she said.
vinarsky@vindy.com