Curves

The vendor opportunity at Curves

Curves operates 154 franchised fitness clubs across the United States, with no company-owned units disclosed in the 2023 Franchise Disclosure Document. The chain is independently owned—no parent company appears on file—and unit growth year-over-year is not reported. For a software vendor, the total addressable market is exactly those 154 locations, all bound by the same technology mandates. There is no multi-unit operator footprint in our corpus, meaning every franchisee likely reports directly to HQ for technology decisions.

Average unit volume is not disclosed in the FDD. The royalty rate sits at 7.5% of gross revenue, and the initial franchise term is 10 years. These numbers suggest a mature, stable system with standardized operations—and standardized technology.

Who controls software purchasing

Elizabeth Krishea Holloway is the sole executive named in Item 1 of the 2023 FDD, holding the title of President. With no other C-suite or IT leadership listed, Holloway is the de facto buyer for any software vendor pitching Curves. The absence of multi-unit operators in our data reinforces that purchasing authority is centralized: franchisees are not making independent software decisions.

Vendors should prepare for a single-threaded sales process. There is no CIO, CTO, or VP of Technology on file. The pitch must speak to operational control, compliance with the mandated tech stack, and ease of deployment across a small, uniform network.

Mandated and current tech stack

Curves mandates two systems across its network: the Curves operating system and the Curves required operating system. Both are proprietary to the franchisor. No third-party POS, CRM, booking, or payment vendor is named in the FDD. This is a closed ecosystem. Any software vendor must either integrate with these mandated systems or make a compelling case to replace one of them at the HQ level.

The tech landscape here is not a patchwork of legacy systems—it is a single, franchisor-controlled stack. That simplifies the integration story but raises the bar for adoption: you are not filling a gap; you are displacing or augmenting a mandated tool.

Procurement, renewals, and timing

The FDD does not include an Item 8 procurement extract, so the formal purchasing model is not publicly defined. In practice, the mandated tech stack signals a designated-supplier approach: HQ decides, franchisees comply. Vendors should assume no open purchasing at the unit level.

Renewal timing offers a potential entry point. The initial franchise term is 10 years. Upon renewal, franchisees sign a new 5-year agreement—or a shorter term at the franchisor’s discretion. Franchisees must notify HQ of their intent to renew between 90 and 365 days before the current term expires. That notification window is when franchisees are most likely to evaluate operational changes, including software. Vendors can time outreach to coincide with these renewal cycles, though the final decision will still rest with HQ.

How to read the Curves FDD

The 2023 Curves Franchise Disclosure Document is the definitive source for the facts above. It details the mandated tech, the renewal conditions, the executive leadership, and the unit count. For software vendors, the FDD is a due-diligence tool: it tells you who controls the budget, what technology is already locked in, and how the franchise agreement shapes purchasing behavior. Read it before you build a pitch.

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