Curves to Close After Almost a Decade

Elinor Peter had just fallen. But she couldn't wait to tell Amy Drake the good news.

Peter, of Hopatcong, had battled osteoporosis, a degenerative bone disease, for about a decade. So she had to let Drake, the owner of , know what didn't happen.

"I dislocated my finger," Peter said. "But I was just so happy that I was able to not have a [broken bone]."

Soon, however, Peter will have to treat her disease elsewhere. Drake said she will close Curves in early May—a month short of her 10-year anniversary—citing a declining membership and rising costs.

Drake said it was one of the toughest decisions she's ever made.

"But I've lost members and we just didn't have new members coming into the place," she said. "It's been a financial thing. Planet Fitness (in Roxbury) took a lot of members."

Drake said she was nearing the end of her 10-year franchise contract with Curves, which boasts locations in 75 countries and calls itself "the largest fitness franchise in the world" on its website.

"I just can't keep affording to spend money and do mailing and advertising and things like that," she said. "I just couldn't keep doing that and losing."

For a while, though, it worked.

Drake, who opened Curves on Lakeside Boulevard in June 2002, said the gym has had almost 1,900 members throughout the years, touting its 30-minute, women-tailored workouts.

But now it's down to just 129 members. It also didn't help, Drake said, that Curves wouldn't waive several new requirements that would have driven up costs despite her difficulties.

Peter said when she heard that Curves was closing she was devastated.

"What am I going to do now?" she said. "We're all looking at each other, saying, 'What am I going to do now?"

"The weight machines and the tension of the machine have stopped the regression of my osteoporosis. I alk, but it's not the same as in the circuit. I feel like that gets every part of my body. I get the arms and the legs and ankles and all the different parts of my bones so they don't break."

Retired Hopatcong middle school teacher, Mimi Green, said she'd miss the friendships she's made during the four years she's been at Drake's gym.

"This is like my 'Cheers' bar," Green said. "You can come here and work out. You can have camaraderie. You can share laughter. You can share tears. You can have everything. It's wonderful."

Green also said she wasn't sure where she'd end up.

"Not at this point," she said. "I don't know yet. I've been to gyms and my son's a personal trainer for Gold's (Gym). I can't do that. It's not for me."

Peter agreed.

"We're going to really miss this," she said. "A lot of people—it's so convenient. It's here in town. It's just a terrible shame. It's been an institution for years."

As for Drake? She said she got into the business after a tremendous change in her personal life, but couldn't legally stay in it.

Drake was overeight before she joined Curves.

"I hated exercise," Drake said. "I as overweight, out of shape. I wasn't going to one of those big meat market gyms. So I worked out at home and came to realize how important exercise is.

"So when I heard about Curves, I thought I would like to help other women get in shape."

But when Drake's Curves contract expires, her 10-year non-compete clause kicks in. Meaning: Drake can't re-enter the fitness field for a decade.

"I have no idea what I'm going to do," she said. "This has not been a planned thing.

"I'll just miss the people. The fun. The laughter. We've had a lot of fun here."