Jenny Craig to return online after being bought by Nutrisystem's parent company

Weight loss brand Jenny Craig is getting a second lease on life.

Nutrisystem's parent company Wellful is rebooting the brand this fall in a "convenient direct-to-consumer delivery model," the company announced Wednesday. Jenny Craig went bust in May after more than 40 years in business because of growing competition from trendy diets and weight loss drugs like Ozempic.

One major change is that Jenny Craig's weight loss centers won't be reopened, and the company will live entirely online. However, it will still deliver the "same delicious food and personalized coaching that millions of Jenny Craig customers have come to know and love," the company said.

Wellful CEO Brandon Adcock said that customers "expect products delivered quickly and easily to their door, and our e-commerce supply chain will enable us to deliver on that expectation."

Jenny Craig won't be combined with any of Wellful's other brands, notably Nutrisystem, rather it will be managed separately and be an independent brand within Wellful's portfolio. The company also operates Nugenix, Lumiday and Instaflex.

A price wasn't disclosed, but court filings show Jenny Craig's intellectual property to be priced up to $10 million. Jenny Craig's website now shows a message teasing its return this fall.

Jenny Craig was one of the pioneers of weight loss and diet programs. The program provided nutritionally balanced menus, including entrees, desserts and snacks, designed to help people lose weight. However, it recently fell into financial difficulties, holding roughly $250 million of debt at one point.

Named after its founder, the Jenny Craig business started when she couldn't lose weight after giving birth to her second child. According to its website, she said working out at the gym alone "doesn't lead to long-term weight loss." She opened the first branded weight-loss center in 1983.

Nearly 1,000 people were employed by the company before it went out of business.

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