Curves, the American women’s-only fitness franchise opened its first gym in Sweden in 2006 and have since then rapidly and successfully opened in more than 15 new locations and another ten are under way.

This makes Curves the largest women gym chain and one of the fastest growing franchise concepts in Sweden. The importance of Curves expansion in Sweden is that this unique franchise specifically allows for women, many of which are immigrants, to become entrepreneurs and owners of a turnkey and thriving business.

The company has seen its greatest success in countries and markets that embrace franchising, exhibit strong athletic cultures, and where women have opportunities to work outside the home. Sweden ranks very high on all three of these.

Sweden embraces the franchising concept

One of the reasons for Curves success in Sweden is due to the dedicated franchise owners following the proven system of Curves and really caring about the women in their communities according to Gary Heavin, Founder and CEO of Curves International. ”Curves has also found the Swedish market to be very open to the franchise concept, as witnessed by our lively growth rate” he says.

Invest Sweden involvement

Invest Sweden, Sweden’s official inward investment agency, specializes in tailoring its assistance specifically to its clients’ individual needs. In this instance, Curves was helped by Invest Sweden early on in the decision making process with information about unique economic and franchising conditions for the company in Sweden. Following this, Curves was further assisted with advice about initial franchisee marketing as well as their process of pre-screening the early franchisee applicants. Contractual advice as well as an introduction to a leading Swedish franchise attorney, enabling Curves to create a Seden-specific franchisee contract to support the company in their expansion into Sweden.