I have read the Arthur Murray posts and heard about how the Fred Astaire Franchise got shut down in the 1970's for unethical practices and that several laws were changed about how much people could pay at a time. Does anyone know if that really happened and what the details are?

It was Calif. and it was the A/ M studios ( in fact, it affected ALL schools ).

The state imposed a maximum cash purchase on studios which i recall being $ 1500 (?)... the head office of both chains heeded the warning , and imposed self regulating standards .

And of course, many chose to ignore same by various loopholes .

Fla.in the 80s, imposed a " bond " system,( 10,000 ) and some counties in the 90s, required a teaching bond for independant teachers of $ 300 .

I don't know for sure what effect it had on changing how Fred Astaire studios did business, but an investigative team of reporters from the Chicago Sun Times in the late 1970s posed as dance students and did a full-blown series on the methods to get people hooked into large contracts. I can't say that what the studios were doing was illegal, per se, it was just a notorious way of doing business, I guess. I was aware of some of the practices, as I knew instructors involved in those days. But the height of the disco era played perfectly into their hands and it was just "business as usual" to get people to take on these huge commitments. It was the perfect storm of people dying to learn how to dance and studios willing to take any money, and lots of it, that people were willing to pay.

I know that this topic has been aired before, but I just don't understand how the franchised chains ever managed to achieve their position of market dominance in the US, and why the public ever fell for it.

If any chain tried the same tactics in the UK, we would just fall about laughing, and the chain would go bust in weeks. Do the chains have any sort of hold anywhere else in the world, or is it a uniquely American phenomenon?

CliveHarrison. There is a saying that there is one born every minute. That type of studio using those tactics would not be accepted here . But under fire at the moment are some Gymnasiums who use unscrupuluos methods to extract money via contracts. It's a pity there is not a controlling body they have to belong to to operate.
Did you see that the WDC ( World Dancing Committee ) have formed a World Social Dance Committee.

One born every minute - yes, but a whole country? How do they do it?

We'd just laugh them out of business.

http://ambakerstreet.com/

Better start laughing now, boys.



Jonathan

I worked for Freds for some time everyone knows that there are dollor amounts that they should go by, however the Freds in Florida do not care! They do not have a problem over charging people for comps, or shows, and will write up their agreements with the wrong dates.

Clive, I can tell you how....

It thrived for several reasons..

#1..... marketing.

#2.... studio accessability.

#3... catering to singles as well as couples ( something the UK never, by and large, did , on a priv. basis )

It was implemented to fill a void for many of the older generation with time ( and money ) on their hands.

Consider this,,, you are 60 plus yrs of age, widowed , divorced, whatever and very financially secure... now look at the time period.. the 40/50s , when it was unacceptable for ladies of a certain age, to be seen attending any social gathering sans partner.

It also provided an instant form of exercise coupled with the chance, for many , to fulfill a life time dream .

The downside to the premise ?.. it became pervasive with owners looking to make a quick buck.. not all, I might add, but like any bad publicity, it affected the whole " chain " system .

I worked for both on many occasions.. some pretty bad ones.. I also worked with some that had a business plan that was above reproach.

Looking on the positive side , it produced many world class dancers, who may never have had that opportunity to compete, were that system not in place .

As has been said before.. independant teachers do NOT provide any degree of capabilty, in fact, many are a liabilty.. I speak from extensive personal appearance gained over the yrs ( in ALL genres )

"As has been said before.. independant teachers do NOT provide any degree of capabilty, in fact, many are a liabilty.. I speak from extensive personal appearance gained over the yrs ( in ALL genres )"

This is a minimum badly worded, or if actually meant to say what it appears to then the most outrageously false thing that has ever been posted here.

The simple fact is that independent teachers count amongst their ranks the vast majority of the worlds best dance teachers. The few who are not independent are studio owners - which is to say they are independent, they just have other people working for them.

Yes, there are some bad ones as well. But that's not what the quote claims - it claims that "independant teachers do NOT provide any degree of capabilty"