Curves Franchise: Members Mull Takeover of Distressed Club

When Curves for Womenfranchise owner Logan Chung abruptly closed his two Chicago area fitness clubs, he left his employees without paychecks and members without a fitness program.

However, a group of members have banded together to possibly buy and reopen the Elmwood Park location, and Curves International is hoping to find a buyer for the Oak Park club.

According to the Wednesday Journal:

Two local Curves women's fitness centers closed their doors, Aug. 31. But a spokesman for the company says they're hoping to reopen them. "There are several people interested in taking over the ownership of the clubs, and we're just waiting for them to submit their paperwork," said Becky Frusher, a spokesperson for Curves at their headquarters in Texas.


"Our main concern is for the members, and we'll get new owners in the clubs as soon as possible to minimize the disruption to them." Logan Chung owned the two locations-one on South Boulevard in Oak Park, the other on North Avenue in Elmwood Park. Employees and members say the closure was unexpected, and Frusher says Chung also has not contacted Curves' corporate office or returned phone calls. Chung was reached by the Journal recently at a cleaners he owns in Gary, Ind., but he declined to comment.



Carmeline Biscan, a three-year manager at the Elmwood Park Curves, says several employees have yet to receive paychecks for the entire month of August, and a handful of customers also have not received refunds for prepaid memberships. Renata Mayfield and a group of seven or eight other members are interested in keeping the Elmwood Park location open, which Curves calls its "North" Oak Park location. Mayfield says they received a starter kit and are waiting on a price to run the location. "It could be a couple weeks,"



Mayfield says. "We were hoping before the end of September that we would have this all straightened out." Photo: Bobu. Licensed by Creative Commons.

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