General Nutrition Centers (GNC) is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based American commercial enterprise focused on the retail sale of health and nutrition related products, including vitamins, supplements, minerals, herbs, sports nutrition, diet & energy products.

 

History

In 1935, David Shakarian opened a small health food store, Lackzoom, in downtown Pittsburgh. He only made USD $35 on his first day, but 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 on St. Patrick's Day. Both of his stores were wiped out. However, he quickly rebuilt both stores, and opened five more by 1941. The company officially registered as a corporation on September 1, 1936 .
 

During the health food craze of the 1960s, Shakarian expanded his chain outside Pittsburgh for the first time, and in the process changed its name to General Nutrition Center. He continued to run the chain until his death in 1984. Numico acquired GNC in 1999; it sold GNC to Apollo Management in 2003. Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan and Ares Management bought GNC in 2007.
 

Retail stores

 

GNC store, Ypsilanti Twp., MI

 

GNC stores will typically stock a wide range of weight loss, bodybuilding and nutritional supplements, in both their own numerous in-house brands as well as third party name brands. In addition to health and fitness books, magazines and related tools. The company also stocks vitamins,natural remedies, and health and beauty products.
 

GNC has over 6,000 stores in the U.S. (including 1,100 store-within-a-store locations within Rite Aid) as well as locations in 49 other countries.
 

GNC LiveWell in Australia currently has 41 Stores located in Brisbane (Queensland), Sydney (New South Wales) and Melbourne (Victoria). Most of these stores have taken a major rebrand in January 2007, following the opening of es have also come under dismay from HealthyLife and GoVita, which have similar based stores in the same shopping center.
 

The major rebrand has taken a new approach to merchandising with front glass display cabinets featuring LCD Plasma Televisions displaying specials and products, and inviting customers into the store for free samples or fridges for cold beverages towards the back, and a centrally located point of sale desk.
 

Business model

GNC retail stores are both a combination of corporate-owned and franchised stores; 950 of the 5,000 domestic US stores are franchises, commonly located within urban shopping malls and shopping zones. In 1999, drugstore.com became the Exclusive Retailer on the Web of GNC Brand Products. General Nutrition Centers (GNC) opened a "store-within-a-store" on Drugstore.com. 
 

Reception

Awards & recognition

Six formulas of GNC-branded multivitamins were tested by ConsumerLab.com in their Multivitamin and Multimineral Supplements Review of 38 of the leading multivitamin/multimineral products sold in the U.S. and Canada. All six formulas passed ConsumerLab's test, which included testing of selected index elements, their ability to disintegrate in solution per United States Pharmacopeia guidelines, lead contamination threshold set in California Proposition 65, and meeting U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) labeling requirements. 
 

Lawsuits

In 1998, GNC corporate was accused of running other franchisees out of business on purpose so corporate can "retake" the store into their control. An August 22, 2001 article talks about GNC being sued by franchise owners due to GNC opening their corporate stores incredibly close to existing franchise stores stealing their business. In an April 30, 2003 article, it states that the GNC corporate company was sued by numerous franchise owners. 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.