Conn. GNC stores among closures

Vitamin and supplement retailer GNC is closing more than a dozen of its Connecticut stores in its initial bankruptcy steps, including locations at the Stamford Town Center, the ShopRite plaza on Connecticut Avenue in Norwalk and the Connecticut Post mall in Milford.

GNC filed three weeks ago for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, reporting debt of $895 million against assets of $1.4 billion and disclosing a $760 million sale agreement for which it was seeking court approval. At the time of the bankruptcy, Harbin Pharmaceutical Group, among China’s largest drug companies, held preferred shares giving it a large block of voting interests in GNC.

Simon Property Group and Brookfield Properties are among mall operators owed more than $4 million by GNC. Other creditors including a number of makers and distributors of supplements owed at least $1 million or more, as well as FedEx, Facebook and Google.

Other locations slated for closure include GNC outlets in Derby, North Haven, Torrington, and stores in Enfield, Lisbon, Meriden, Montville, Simsbury, Waterbury and Wethersfield.

On its website, GNC lists remaining area stores at the Danbury Fair and Westfield Trumbull malls; along with locations in Norwalk, Brookfield, Branford, Guilford, Hamden, Middletown and Orange.

If a staple of strip malls today, GNC’s origins date to the Great Depression, when David Shakarian opened a yogurt shop called Lackzoom in Pittsburgh, Pa., where the company has its headquarters today under CEO Ken Martindale. GNC’s name is derived from its earlier moniker General Nutrition

Centers.

GNC reached its zenith in 2015, when revenue approached $2.7 billion and profits $220 million, before sales sagged and losses mounted over the succeeding four years amid intensifying competition. Rival Vitamin Shoppe was acquired last year by the parent company of Liberty Tax, and has several Connecticut locations today. Another competitor, Vitamin World underwent a bankruptcy two years ago, with the Long Island, N.Y.based company closing Connecticut locations but continuing in business otherwise.

Since 2016, GNC has cut its workforce by 4,500 jobs, leaving it with about 12,400 employees entering this year. The company put about 4,000 people on furlough as a result of coronavirus pandemic closures.

The company has not stated how many people it plans to lay off permanently in the closures of another 700 stores, with GNC having projected initially between 800 and 1,200 closures. GNC had 3,600 U.S. locations as of March, not including its in-store partnership with Rite Aid.

Associated Press GNC included 13 locations in its initial closures after filing in June for bankruptcy protection from creditors, among more than 700 nationally.