This is the slimmest take on the once revolutionary weight loss company.
With its finances thinning and stiff competition from digital weight loss platforms, weight loss icon Jenny Craig is shutting down after 40 years in the business.
The weight loss and wellness company was founded by Jenny and Sydney Craig in 1983, with their first locations in Melbourne, Australia. The company opened its first outlet in the United States in 1985 and currently has about 500 weight loss centers in the United States and Canada.
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Now, the company’s physical stores will not return, “because of their inability to secure additional financing,” According to NBC News. Jenny Craig said she expects to continue working online after pulling the plug on her brick-and-mortar locations.
“Last week, corporate employees at the company’s Carlsbad, Calif., office received notice under the WARN Code that the company would be closing the office on June 24, but could close as soon as Friday,” NBC News reported. “For the past two weeks, Jenny Craig had run out of money while looking for a buyer. The company was seeking a sale,” Bloomberg Law reported last month.
The last day for hourly employees was Tuesday, while company employees will be let go on Friday, May 5th.
“Like many other companies, we are currently transitioning from physical retail to a customer-friendly model based on e-commerce,” A CNN spokesperson said.
Jenny Craig has $250 million in debt and will file for bankruptcy if the sale of the company cannot be completed.
While Jennie Craig centers were a popular location in the 1990s and 2000s, the weight loss market has shifted on-site, with stiff competition coming from newer weight-loss drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic, and Rybelsus.
Meanwhile, mobile weight loss apps such as WeightWatchers, MyFitnessPal, Noom, and Fitbit have also affected the market share in the industry.
“Digital or virtual weight loss is a $1.4 billion growth market,” MarketResearch.com states. “Technology and the increasing use of the Internet have changed the way Americans lose weight, and how they access the services of weight loss companies and experts.”
The company noted that “new companies and applications for smartphones have entered the market in an attempt to ‘disrupt’ longstanding players.”
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