A Balanced Approach

REVIEW SUMMARY
Business. BalanceDiet, Tampa and Miami Beach
Industry. Weight loss, fitness
Key. Firm bought a chain of diet centers that nearly filed for bankruptcy.

For a self-professed fitness and weight loss guru, Chris Palumbo gobbled up quite the hefty business venture one day late last year.

Palumbo, along with several business partners, bought a financially troubled chain of 22 weight management centers on the Gulf Coast, with locations from Brandon to North Naples. The acquisition itself, of Tampa-based Results Weight Loss and its affiliated brand, 1-800-Weight-Loss, cost a mere $71,000 — a fire sale price that reflected the previous owners' desire to avoid bankruptcy or foreclosure.