Out of one woman's personal dieting struggles, a multimillion-dollar empire was born. Weight Watchers humble beginnings turned into a tangible method of successful weight loss. The continued presence of the Weight Watchers program in today's competitive market is fueled by a supportive network and years of demonstrated weight loss success.
Inspirational Support
The success of Weight Watchers began with the frustrations of an overweight housewife. In 1961, Jean Nidetch developed the concept of holding meetings with others who were having similar struggles with their weight. She began inviting her friends to a lounge room in Queens, New York, once a week to hold open discussions and lend support to one another.
A Strong Foundation
Jean successfully lost 72 pounds through the encouragement found in her group meetings. Others in the group also were losing weight, and word of mouth about Jean's meetings began to spread. There was no longer enough space in the meeting room to accommodate all of those who were interested, so Jean and her husband Marty teamed up with fellow supporters Al and Felice Lippert to go commercial with their weight loss method. Weight Watchers officially was launched in May 1963. More than 400 people showed up for the first meeting--organizers were expecting only 50.
A Fast Rise to Success
Jean's meetings became so popular that she began running meetings every day, three times each day. For this reason, Weight Watchers decided to recruit women around New York to hold meetings. These meeting leaders had to have attended Weight Watchers meetings, lost weight as a result and continued to keep it off.
In only four years, Weight Watchers went international. By 1965, there were 102 franchises in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico, Great Britain and Israel. In 1965, the concept of ready-made diet food to purchase in groceries was developed. During this time, Weight Watchers Magazine and cookbook also were launched.
Changes of the '70s
Resigning her presidency in 1973, Jean Nidetch became the head of public relations for Weight Watchers. A psychologist was brought on board to develop behavioral management programs to help others combat unhealthy eating patterns. In 1978, Weight Watchers began to incorporate exercise recommendations into the program. During this time, Weight Watchers was purchased by H.J. Heinz for around $100 million.
The '80s to Today
During the 1980s Weight Watchers developed the "Quick Start" program to help participants boost initial weight loss. It also developed the "At Work Program," which encouraged meetings in the workplace.
As companies such as Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig arrived on the scene in the 1990s, Weight Watchers was forced to share its success with competitors. Responding to consumer requests of a simpler plan, Weight Watchers in 1997 developed the Points system, as opposed to counting calories. In 1999, Weight Watchers was sold for $735 million to the European firm Artal Luxembourg.
Today, more than 100 million people in 30 countries attend weekly Weight Watchers meetings, and countless others purchase ready-made Weight Watchers foods in groceries around the globe.
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