GNC (store)

GNC Holdings Inc. (General Nutrition Centers) is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based American company selling health and nutrition related products, including vitamins, supplements, minerals, herbs, sports nutrition, diet, and energy products.

GNC Holdings, Inc.
Public
Traded asOTC Pink: GNCIQ
IndustryRetail
Founded1935
Registered: 9/1/1936
FounderDavid Shakarian
HeadquartersPittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States
Number of locations
4,800 (U.S. & Canada, 2020)[1]
1,957 (International, 2016)
Key people
Ken Martindale (CEO)
Tricia K. Tolivar (CFO)
ProductsNutritional supplements
Revenue US$ 2.54 billion (2016)
US$ -172.95 million (2016)
US$ -286.25 million (2016)
Total assets US$ 2.07 billion (2016)
Total equity US$ -95.05 million (2016)
Number of employees
~16,800 (2016)
Websitewww.gnc.com
Footnotes / references
[2][3]

History
An empty and closed GNC store in June 2020

In 1935, David Shakarian opened a small health food store, Lackzoom, in downtown Pittsburgh. He made US$35 on his first day[4] and was able to open a second store within six months. A year later, Shakarian suffered from what appeared to be a fatal blow when the Ohio River flooded into downtown on St. Patrick's Day. Both of his stores were wiped out. But he opened a new store the next year and later began a mail-order business, shipping health foods and later vitamins and prescription drugs throughout the country.[5] Major expansion began in the 1960s. Shakarian said the physical fitness movement, anxiety about smoking and the growth shopping centers brought success to his business venture.[6] In the 1960s, the company changed the name of its outlets to General Nutrition Centers.[7] He stepped down as chief executive officer in February 1984 but continued as chairman until his death later that year.[6] Shakarian took GNC public (listed on the NYSE) in the 1980s. Gary Daum was named chief executive office in February 1984. In May 1985, Jerry Horn took on the role.[8]

In 1990 the company considered relocating but a public/private effort retained GNC headquarters in Downtown Pittsburgh.[9] GNC was taken private and sold to Thomas H. Lee Partners a PE investment/management fund in the late 1980s. Thomas Lee ran GNC and took it public prior to selling the company to Royal Dutch Numico and Numico acquired GNC in 1999;[10] it sold GNC to Apollo Management in 2003.[11] Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Ares Management bought GNC in 2007.[12] GNC went public in 2011.[13]

In 2018, the Chinese Harbin Pharmaceutical Group agreed to acquire an approximately 40% stake in GNC.[14]

In June 2019, the company announced they would be shuttering 900 mall locations in 2020 due to slumping sales.

In June 2020, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and indicated plans to close at least 800 stores.[15] Effective on June 30, 2020, the stock was delisted from the New York Stock Exchange and shifted to the OTC Pink market.[16]

Retail stores
A GNC store at Promenade
GNC store, Ypsilanti Twp., MI

GNC stores typically stock a wide range of weight loss, bodybuilding, nutritional supplements, vitamins, natural remedies, and health and beauty products, in both its owned brands as well as third-party brands.

As of December 31, 2018, GNC had approximately 8,400 locations, of which approximately 6,200 retail locations are in the United States (including approximately 2,200 Rite Aid licensed store-within-a-store locations) and franchise operations in approximately 50 countries.[17]

In July 2019, it was announced that GNC plans to close up to 1,400 company owned retail locations, primarily those located within shopping malls.[18]

Business model

Of GNC's approximately 4,100 U.S. locations, 61% are in strip centers and 28% are in malls.[19] GNC products are available on GNC.com, and as of January 2017 are also available on GNC's Amazon Marketplace.[20]

Lawsuits

In 1998, GNC was accused of purposely running its franchisees out of business in order to "retake" the stores into corporate control.[21] An April 30, 2003 article states that the GNC corporate company was sued by numerous franchise owners.[22] The complaint is that the parent company was allowing their corporate owned stores to sell products for less than the franchise stores are allowed to sell them for. The suit also claimed that GNC charged high "reset fees" to franchisees when there is new signage that needs to be changed in the store or an image facelift that must be done by GNC corporate. A similar lawsuit was filed again in an article written on October 20, 2004.[23]

In February 2015, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman sent cease and desist letters to GNC and other major retailers due to concerning laboratory tests regarding the accuracy of the claimed contents of supplements.[24][25] GNC shortly afterwards removed some stock from sales while working with the Attorney General.[26][27] In September 2016, GNC, the New York Office of the Attorney General, and other supplement retailers ultimately came to an agreement and retailers are now accomplishing more robust testing of supplements to ensure accurate labeling.[28][29]

In October 2015, the Attorney General of Oregon filed a lawsuit against GNC alleging that the company knowingly sold products containing the ingredients picamilon and BMPEA, which are banned by the FDA.[30][31][32]

On February 2, 2017, GNC threatened to sue the Fox Broadcasting Company for "significant economic and reputational damages, lost opportunities, and consequential damages", after an advertisement for the chain was blocked from airing during Super Bowl LI. Despite repeated approvals by Fox, the network stated that the ad had been vetoed by the National Football League because of GNC's placement on an NFLPA blacklist for selling products that contain substances banned by the NFL. The letter of intent claimed that Fox had not informed them of any such rules when they purchased the ad time, and cited that the purchase induced them to "spend millions of dollars in production costs and in the development of a national, coordinated marketing and rebranding campaign" around the commercial. The NFL itself does not prohibit ads for health stores unless they contain references to specific prohibited products; the GNC ad only contained motivational themes and no references to its products.[33][34][35]

gollark: It's pulled from a PRNG, sure, but the entropy for that is supplied by a hardware RNG or something.
gollark: > well technically computers are not randomI mean, depends how "random" you mean.
gollark: > not free though. I just mean that it finds random stuff> I... don't think so, randomly generating images would be trivial and look bad.I nerdsniped myself trying to demonstrate this.
gollark: Here's a bigger one, if you want for whatever reason.
gollark: Looks like an artifact of scaling it.

References
  1. "Our Story". GNC. Retrieved 2020-07-13.
  2. "US SEC: Form 10-K GNC Holdings Inc". U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
  3. "Kenneth A. Martindale: Executive Profile & Biography - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
  4. "G.n.c. Expanding at a Robust Pace by Moving to Malls". The New York Times. 1981-11-02. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2019-01-22.
  5. "Founder of GNC chain dies - UPI Archives". Upi.com. 1984-09-11. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  6. "Founder Of Food Chain Dies - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. 1984-09-13. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  7. "#284 GNC". Forbes.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  8. Todd S. Purdum (1985-05-15). "Business People; Chief Is Replaced By General Nutrition - The New York Times". Nytimes.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  9. Daparma, Ron (April 17, 2003), "Robinson to retire as RIDC president", Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Pittsburgh, PA
  10. "Fire sale leaves GNC as Dutch parent's lone U.S. unit". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  11. JOURNAL, Robin SidelStaff Reporter of THE WALL STREET (2003-10-17). "Apollo Management Agrees To Buy General Nutrition". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  12. Kaplan, Thomas (7 December 2010). "Three Years After Private Equity Boom, an Exit Strategy". DealBook. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  13. Rovell, Darren (2011-12-28). "GNC is IPO Star Of 2011". www.cnbc.com. Retrieved 2019-08-29.
  14. Kate Wu (February 13, 2018). "China's Harbin Pharma to buy stake in U.S. health retailer GNC". Reuters. Retrieved November 7, 2018.
  15. "GNC Holdings Inc. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection - Pittsburgh Business Times". June 24, 2020.
  16. Twedt, Steve (June 30, 2020). "NYSE to begin process of delisting GNC shares". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
  17. "GNC forms strategic partnership with International Vitamin Corporation (IVC) | GNC Holdings, Inc". Gnc.gcs-web.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  18. "GNC plans to close up to 900 stores with a focus on mall locations". USA TODAY. Retrieved 2019-07-23.
  19. "GNC store closings: Up to 900 could close with focus on mall stores". Usatoday.com. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  20. Garcia, Tonya (2017-04-19). "GNC credits Amazon marketplace, fewer promotions for improved earnings". MarketWatch. Retrieved 2019-11-07.
  21. Hays, Constance L. (2001-08-22). "Franchisees On Edge; Some Angry Ones Sue As GNC Competes". The New York Times. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  22. "Franchisees sue GNC in New Jersey - Pittsburgh Business Times". Bizjournals.com. 2003-04-30. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  23. "GNC franchisees file lawsuit - Pittsburgh Business Times". Bizjournals.com. 2004-10-20. Retrieved 2014-02-11.
  24. "A.G. Schneiderman Asks Major Retailers To Halt Sales Of Certain Herbal Supplements As DNA Tests Fail To Detect Plant Materials Listed On Majority Of Products Tested". ag.ny.gov. 3 February 2015. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  25. O'Connor, Anahad (28 September 2016). "New York Attorney General Targets Supplements at Major Retailers". The New York Times. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  26. "GNC Stands Behind the Quality of Its Products and Agrees to Temporarily Remove a Small Number of Products While Working with New York State Attorney General's Office". GNC Holdings, Inc. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  27. "GNC Refutes New York State Attorney General's Claims in Full and Robust Response". GNC Holdings, Inc. 9 February 2015. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  28. "A.G. Schneiderman Announces Major Nationwide Agreement With NBTY, Herbal Supplement Maker for Walgreens And Walmart". ag.ny.gov. 28 September 2016. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
  29. Parveen, Iffat; Gafner, Stefan; Techen, Natascha; Murch, Susan J.; Khan, Ikhlas A. (September 2016). "DNA Barcoding for the Identification of Botanicals in Herbal Medicine and Dietary Supplements: Strengths and Limitations". Planta Medica. 82 (14): 1225–1235. doi:10.1055/s-0042-111208. ISSN 1439-0221. PMID 27392246.
  30. Aguillard, Anna (30 November 2015). "Oregon's crackdown on GNC part of nation-wide crackdown on dietary supplement industry". Legal News Line. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  31. Young, Alison (23 October 2015). "Oregon AG accuses retailer GNC of selling drug-spiked dietary supplements". USA Today. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  32. Germano, Sara; NG, Serena (22 October 2015). "Oregon Sues GNC, Alleging Supplements Contained Illegal Ingredients". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 December 2015.
  33. "GNC's Super Bowl ad controversy escalates". USA Today. Retrieved 3 February 2017.
  34. Bruell, Alexandra (2017-01-31). "GNC's Super Bowl Ad Rejected by NFL". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
  35. "Watch the GNC ad the NFL rejected from Super Bowl". USA Today. Retrieved 1 February 2017.
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