MOSES LAKE — Alberta Cannon and her daughter TJ Newman are starting the new year as the new owners of the women’s only Curves exercise franchise in Moses Lake.

The mother and daughter bought the franchise on Dec. 1 from Kari Mastrandrea, who also had two Curves locations in Western Washington.

She said the distance made it difficult for Mastrandrea to market the Moses Lake location.

Mastrandrea asked Cannon if she would be interested in buying the business, Cannon recalled.

Cannon said she didn’t want to run Curves by herself, so her daughter offered to help her.

Cannon also owns the Farmer’s Insurance Agency, the JC Penny catalogue store and a gift shop in the same building Curves is housed in on Stratford Road.

On Monday, the Moses Lake Chamber of Commerce welcomed Cannon and Newman with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the business.

Cannon said she hadn’t worked out at Curves until she and her daughter were considering buying the business.

“Then we worked out and saw how much fun it was,” Cannon said.

Improved health benefits also drove their decision to buy the business, Cannon said.

They spend an “intense” week in Waco, Texas, learning about muscles, nutrition and the exercise machines at Curves, Cannon said.

She called the time refreshing and noted the positive environment, as the organization helps others.

They recently bought a new workout program called CurvesSmart, which will arrive in Moses Lake on Jan. 16 and be available for use on Jan. 17, she said.

CurvesSmart is described as a “state of the art personal coaching system that has been incorporated into our 30-minute circuit workouts,” according to the Curves Web site.

CurvesSmart contains personal workout information, which provides progress reports “that show your overall muscle strength, your calories burned and how close you are to reaching your goal,” according to the Web site.

The Moses Lake Curves will be offering a free weight management class during the end of January to members and nonmembers, she said.

Newman said she’s enjoyed owning the business and works out three times a week.

“It’s been interesting, a lot of learning,” she said in part. “I’ve been losing weight and it’s only been a month.”

She explained how the Curves exercise program works muscles to the maximum for 30 seconds and a recovery board is used for 30 seconds.

The muscles are being worked so hard they need 24 hours to recover, she said.

“I’m excited about it,” Newman said.

An open house for the business is set for Jan. 9, from a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Jan. 10 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The business will donate $20 to the Columbia Basin Cancer Foundation per each person who buys a membership at the open house.