We are planning one big project for the New Year. Every year right after the holidays, we coordinate some sort of new addition, design, or layout for our house. This year we decided to clear out the old kitchen cabinets. We already had new appliances (from a very nice Christmas gift, last year) so we thought we would spruce up the ?other furnishings? in the kitchen.
I refer to kitchen cabinets as furnishing because in part that is what they are. A good kitchen cabinet can be a piece of furniture. The right kitchen cabinets in the right setting with nice countertops and other accents will make a kitchen look like a show piece. We wanted this for our kitchen, but did not want to pay a hefty price. And that is where the best part of this renovation project was found.
After spending countless hours in big box hardware stores and lumber super centers, I decided there had to be another way to find a good deal. First of all I was very disappointed in the lack of effort these stores were showing me, second, the prices were outright terrible, and third, the quality of the kitchen cabinets I found was very poor. (Unless you wanted to spend twenty thousand dollars - $20,000- then you got the very best.)
Instead we were on a budget. We had four thousand dollars and wanted good cabinets. No particle board (like IKEA) and no painted wood or fake wood. (By the way ? IKEA had some great looking cabinets, but the quality was very weak. All of their products are made of inferior materials that will (and have been proven to) break down in a few short years.
Where we found the cabinets of choice were online. What type of cabinets we found that best fit our budget were RTA kitchen cabinets. RTA is not a brand name; instead it is an acronym for ?Ready To Assemble?. And that is what these cabinets were; easy to put together, quick to assemble, and most of all ? quality at a great price. The online price was almost thirty five percent lower than a retail RTA kitchen cabinet and the quality was actually a much better.
I thought it was too good to be true, so I did some research and here is what I found: RTA kitchen cabinets that are sold online, have less mark up because these online stores have less over head. Thus passing the savings on to the consumer and saving you money. Second, the better RTA kitchen cabinet websites will actually be the direct importer of the cabinets and this will save you money because of no ?middle men?. (Do a Google search, the best RTA sites will rise to the top of the ?organic search? not the paid searches at the very top of a search engine, instead it's the websites right below).
So with a little searching, we found a great deal on RTA kitchen cabinets, we saved money and had our ?new year's project? done in just over a month. Remember, shop online, compare a few websites, and go with RTA kitchen cabinets if you want to save money and still have a great looking, quality kitchen.
According to the US National Center for Health Statistics, around two thirds of adults (66 per cent) are above a healthy weight, with 32 per cent of this group considered obese.
This is a significant growth from the 56 per cent of people overweight and 23 per cent obese recorded ten years earlier.
In terms of gender, the results are very even with almost 62 per cent of women overweight, an estimated 64.5 million people in America.
Unsurprisingly, this has led to major spending on diet products to try and cut down weight. This amount has been over $40 billion for a number of years and according to a new report from market analyst Datamonitor, this figure has been forecast to grow to $54 billion by 2009.
Taking these statistics together, it appears that dieting alone has not produced results for many people, so a large number are going to gyms and fitness centers to work off the pounds, with many of these franchised.
Within this sector, there are many facilities for women only, where they can do a series of aerobic and circuit training exercises and work with weights they are happy with at a speed they can work effectively to.
Also part of the appeal to women is that they are working out in a comfortable environment, as some women can feel intimidated around men doing exercises with them and other strong females, making them reluctant to work out to their maximum ability.
Therefore, many franchisees, who are mainly women, are taking advantage of this franchise business opportunity.
In this industry, franchising is a big advantage over starting an independent center, as a franchise will help to find the location and give franchisees most or all of the gear they require to attract women to the gym or center.
Not only are franchisees provided with the necessary fitness equipment, they also benefit from having in place a tailored fitness programme for women that has proved to be successful elsewhere.
As increasing numbers of women are expected to gain weight in the future and with more women having a disposable income through working, women's fitness franchises are set to be very popular for a long time to come. And with the New Year coming up and so many resolutions ready to be put in place, it's a good time to start.
Both Jason Delmar & Diarmuid Kieran are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.