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Health and wellness retailer GNC plans to close up to 900 stores with big cuts to mall locations expected.

Officials with the Pittsburgh-based chain spoke of their continued "store optimization effort" during the GNC's second-quarter earnings call with analysts Monday.

“I think it could be likely that we'll reduce our mall count by a nearly half,” said Tricia Tolivar, GNC chief financial officer. “So we've got a little over 800 malls today and over the long-term, we could bring that closer to 400 to 500.”

In the first six months of 2019, company records show 192 company-owned and franchise locations have already closed.

GNC officials had announced in November 2018 that they would close up to 900 stores over the next three years in the U.S. and Canada as leases expire. Now, looking at the current foot-traffic trends in malls, "it's likely that we will end up closer to the top end of our original optimization estimate," GNC Chairman and CEO Ken Martindale said.

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Of GNC’s approximately 4,100 U.S. locations, 61% are in strip centers and 28% are in malls, Martindale said, noting strip center locations have been “relatively stable from a comparable sales perspective.”

There also are around 2,200 locations in Rite Aid stores and officials said Monday that the company is expanding on partnerships with Dick's Sporting Goods and Hudson News.

Overall across the retail sector, more than 7,400 store closings are already in the works or completed so far in 2019, which is 27% more than all of 2018, according to Coresight Research's latest store closings report.

Coresight, which has offices in Manhattan, London and Hong Kong, tracked 5,864 closings in 2018, which included all Toys R Us stores and hundreds of Kmart and Sears locations.

The "going-out-of-business" sales and liquidation of other brands are expected to continue. Coresight estimates closures could reach 12,000 by the end of the year, the report said.

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Read or Share this story: https://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2019/07/22/gnc-store-closings-up-900-could-close-focus-mall-stores/1800287001/ </s> Topline: Health and nutrition retailer GNC will close up to 900 stores—mostly in shopping malls—due to declining foot traffic, CEO Ken Martindale said in the company’s second-quarter earnings call, reflecting a persistent issue retailers have to contend with as thousands of physical stores belonging to large retailers have closed this year.
• By the end of 2020, Martindale said GNC will close 700-900 stores because “the negative trends in traffic that we’ve seen in mall stores over the past several years has accelerated during the last few quarters.”
• Currently, 61% of GNC stores are in strip centers while 28%, or about 800, are located in shopping malls. Martindale said.
• The closures will cut the company’s mall presence nearly in half to 400 or 500.

In November 2018 GNC said it would close 700-900 stores over the next three years , but the severity of declining mall traffic will cause the retailer to shut down closer to the top of that range, Martindale said.

GNC, based in Pittsburgh, has 8,000 locations worldwide, with 5,900 in the U.S. </s> Health and nutrition store GNC plans to close up to 900 stores with most of the cuts coming to their mall locations.

Back in November 2018, GNC announced they planned to close between 700 and 900 stores. On a call with investors Monday, GNC CEO Ken Martindale said the company will meet the higher end of their estimate.

"It's likely that we will end up closer to the top end of our original optimization estimate of 700 to 900 store closures," Martindale said.

The call focused on decreased traffic at GNC's mall locations. GNC CFO Tricia Tolivar said out of GNC's 800 current mall locations, the company expects to keep 400 and 500 stores due to overall mall traffic deceleration.

"As part of our work to optimize our store footprint, we're increasing our focus on mall locations," Martindale said. "And as you know, we have a great deal of flexibility to take further action here due to the short lease terms we have across our store portfolio."

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Of the 4,000 GNC retail locations 61% are in strip centers where as 28% are in malls.

GNC is just the latest retailer to close stores. Payless ShoeSource, Gymboree and DressBarn are just a few of the companies closing a majority of their stores. A recent analysis from Business Insider found more than 7,500 retail stores plan to close in 2019. </s> As a result of slowing foot traffic in malls, health and nutrition chain GNC is targeting hundreds of its stores for closure by the end of 2020.

Chairman and CEO Ken Martindale said 700 to 900 low-performing locations could close as a result of ongoing streamlining, he revealed during a quarter 2 earnings call on Tuesday.

He said, “the negative trends in traffic that we’ve seen in mall stores over the past several years has accelerated during the past few quarters."

Martindale noted that the GNC portfolio includes a number of stores with short-term leases, and “store optimization" efforts are ongoing.

Roughly 28% percent of GNC stores are located within malls, with the other 61% in strip centers.

GNC said its U.S. and Canada earnings decreased $41.2 million, or 8%, to $476.1 million in quarter 2, compared to the second quarter of 2018.

“During the second quarter of 2019, although we experienced some softness in our sales, we delivered meaningful growth in our operating income margins consistent with our long-term strategy,” Martindale said.

GNC has 8,020 locations, including store-within-a-store partnerships with other retailers.

Brick and mortar retailers have been facing difficulties competing with online behemoths such as Amazon.

Some retailers have gone out of business this year, including Gymboree, Dressbarn and Charlotte Russe, CNN reported. </s> In another sign of the troubles facing shopping malls, vitamin and supplement retailer GNC says it plans to slash its mall footprint by as much as half, closing hundreds of locations.

Speaking to analysts this week after reporting quarterly financial results, executives said that with declining traffic in malls, GNC may close 300 to 400 of its 800 mall locations.

The Pittsburgh-based retailer operates several stores in southeastern Wisconsin, including shops in Mayfair, Southridge, Brookfield Square and Bayshore. All four of those shopping centers already are wrestling with the loss of anchors as department store chains have struggled.

GNC said it will close nearly 900 stores overall. Most of the firm’s stores are in strip centers or other non-mall locations. GNC has 8,000 stores worldwide, including 3,900 in the U.S., plus another 2,000 locations within Rite Aid drugstores.

A falloff in traffic at mall stores over the last several years has accelerated in recent quarters, hurting performance at those locations, CEO Ken Martindale told analysts on a conference call, according to a transcript posted on investor research site Seeking Alpha.

Sales at GNC’s U.S. stores open at least a year were down 4.6% in the quarter ended June 30, compared with the second quarter of 2018.

Contact Rick Romell at (414) 224-2130 or rick.romell@jrn.com. Follow him on Twitter at @RickRomell </s> GNC says it is planning to close up to 900 stores in the us

The vitamin and supplement store “GNC” has announced it will close up to 900 stores in mall locations.

Officials confirmed the move Monday during a second-quarter earnings call with analysts.

The company’s chief financial officer said they would likely be cutting the number of stores in malls by half.

GNC has about 4,100 locations in the US.

Company records show that nearly 200 stores have already closed during the first six months of 2019. </s> PITTSBURGH (WOWK/CNN Newsource) – The vitamin and supplement store GNC has announced it will close up to 900 stores in mall locations. Officials confirmed the move Monday, July 22nd, 2019, during a second-quarter earnings call with analysts.

The company’s Chief Financial Officer said they would likely be cutting the number of stores in malls by half. GNC has about 4,100 locations in the US.

Company records show that nearly 200 stores have already closed during the first six months of 2019.

For local and breaking news, weather alerts, video and more, download the FREE WOWK 13 News App from the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store. </s> (WTNH)– GNC is scaling back the number of locations it has in malls in a big way.

The company is closing 900 of those stores from coast to coast.

The vitamin and supplement retailer is trying to solidify its footing in the market.

Company records show that GNC closed 200 stores in the first six months of this year. </s> Pittsburgh-based health and wellness chain GNC has announced it plans to close about 900 locations.

CEO Ken Martindale told investors that the company plans to close roughly 900 locations by the end of next year, according to a BusinessInsider report.

In 2018, GNC told investors that the company planned to close 700 to 900 locations over the following three years but BusinessInsider is reporting that number will now be at the high end and that about half of those stores will be located at malls.

In central Pennsylvania, there are GNC locations at the Colonial Park Mall, Capital City Mall, the Lebanon Valley Mall, the York Galleria Mall, the Park City Center and at The Point at Carlisle Plaza.

GNC has 18 stores within a 30 mile radius of Harrisburg, according to its website.
Due to declining sales, American retailer GNC announces it will close between 700 and 900 stores.