GNC going bankrupt, closing 1200 stores

[pheenix]

Likely...

Half of it is just wasted labor. I've seen like three staff members in a store when they probably didn't get as many customers all day. Lol fuck are they getting paid to do?

I order all my stuff online since i was deployed mutiple times. I got used to it plus the savings. I have created relationships with some of the companies and its way better IMO. Have not gone in a brick and morter store in a few years.

 

[DrBeefcake777]

I was a store manager of a GNC in my very early 20s. Id say around 2007ish. The prices are set so high that it was only a matter of time.

I would have to discount items that would be getting within 6 months of going out of date. Id see much of the stock go down to 80% off the last month or so bc 3/4 of the stuff there is rarely or never purchased. Id then be able to pick up these items cheap or have to dispose of them. Many items we would have to send back but many we would "dispose of on site"

Needless to say I was very young so I got my fair share of free supplements. Something I definitely wouldnt do now, but when I was young I didnt see it as a problem.

 

[Sparkss]

Vitamin Shoppe is better anyway. More of a selection.

They have decent sales from time to time. But even with the Vitamin Shoppe I buy the vast majority online and shipped free to home.

 

[maldorf]

Brick and mortar stores are a thing of the past for the majority of stores. Everything is slowly being undercut by online prices and fast shipping.

I buy so much online now myself. Exceptions mostly being high priced items or tech items that have a high probability of breaking down or needing to be returned soon after buying them. I don't want to get stuck with a defective product I bought from Amazon. So far it hasn't happened. If im buying a big OLED tv, im going to the store to see what the picture looks like and be able to return it in town if something is messed up. I wont buy clothes either unless I try them on. My wife buy a bunch of clothes online, tries them on, and then returns at the store what she doesn't like.

Some now are buying houses and cars without ever being inside or driving it!! That's feakin nuts.

 

[maldorf]

I worked at a franchise gnc when I was 20. Owner sold all kinds of illegal products and gear out the back. Most of the people who came in were young kids thinking creatine was like steroids and the others were always looking for ways to pass drug test. I was told to push certain products for commission. Only good thing was I got all kinds of free protein powder, bars, shakes and vitamins.

I worked for 3 different corporate store locations in my area for about 1 year or so. That was back around 1992 or so. It was doing ok back then. I think it was doing its best in the 80s. I remember we sold some kind of tea that was supposed to help pot smokers pass drug tests. We had to hold that behind the counter because people would steal it.

 

[goback2013]

I worked for 3 different corporate store locations in my area for about 1 year or so. That was back around 1992 or so. It was doing ok back then. I think it was doing its best in the 80s. I remember we sold some kind of tea that was supposed to help pot smokers pass drug tests. We had to hold that behind the counter because people would steal it.

Golden seal i believe.

 

[maldorf]

Golden seal i believe.

Oh yeah, golden seal was used i think. We started to keep that behind the counter too, but we had a supplement that was made and marketed to help people have clean piss. I think it was a proprietary mix of herbs. That stuff was stolen a lot until we hid it behind the counter.

 

[TripppleP]

I do recall selling a B vitamin that people would mix with cocaine. People looking clearly like they didn't belong in GNC would come and buy the stuff from behind the counter all the time.

Also we sold drinks to pass drug tests with 100% money back garuntee. Now one ever came back to get a refund...so I used it to get my next job and it worked well.

 

[Blazed_Noob]

I buy so much online now myself. Exceptions mostly being high priced items or tech items that have a high probability of breaking down or needing to be returned soon after buying them. I don't want to get stuck with a defective product I bought from Amazon. So far it hasn't happened. If im buying a big OLED tv, im going to the store to see what the picture looks like and be able to return it in town if something is messed up. I wont buy clothes either unless I try them on. My wife buy a bunch of clothes online, tries them on, and then returns at the store what she doesn't like.

Some now are buying houses and cars without ever being inside or driving it!! That's feakin nuts.

Oh yeah it's just going to get worse/easier. The future generations will be amazed when we tell them we used to play outside and we didn't have cellphones and iPads growing up. It's going to create a whole lazy/spoon fed generation who thinks they should just be handed everything. Working hard for something you want will be a thing of the past. It's going to be all "likes, popularity , online exposure" and things like that.

 

[jeroendebleser]

 

[EWRECK]

Chuck E Cheese also filing BK. Waistlines are already shrinking as we type.

 

[Jph30]

Businesses are dropping like flies all around my area.

 

[dantes]

I go into the gnc next my house and buy the stuff on clearance it's usually protein powder that's about to expire. I won't buy stuff for full price tho

 

[pheenix]

I used to buy Ultimate orange at GNC back in the day. By the NAB,VA beach

 

[maldorf]

View attachment 118008

Well, 1200 stores would have a good amount of employees and then you have to look at the headquarters too. That is a lot of jobs. I feel sorry for the workers.

 

[maldorf]

One thing that has been lost for awhile and getting worse..

Customer loyalty. Used to be that people would shop at the same stores for years, basically until something went wrong that caused them to stop. Now these days customers will change where they buy things heavily biased on price. People in my parent's generation, 80 years old, have a lot of loyalty to the places they shop at. They get to know the people that work there and become somewhat like friends. I do that some ,but to a lesser extent. My kids look at me like im crazy when I start chatting with employees. My in-laws always buy their cars now at the same dealership. We on the other hand looked all over town and compared prices between dealerships and different makes. They just go out and buy Honda every time. I think young people today don't have nearly that kind of loyalty. Its probably a good thing for shoppers, but not so good for the seller!

Some people these days will shop at a brick and mortar, find what they want, and then go back home and buy it online from Amazon to save $10. It is what it is.

 

[DrBeefcake777]

I worked for 3 different corporate store locations in my area for about 1 year or so. That was back around 1992 or so. It was doing ok back then. I think it was doing its best in the 80s. I remember we sold some kind of tea that was supposed to help pot smokers pass drug tests. We had to hold that behind the counter because people would steal it.

Yup. Then came the creatine based blue and red drinks you were supposed to drink 3 hours before piss tests. If we were told it was for a drug test however, we werent supposed to sell it to them.

Carbo clean or something like that is what it was called I think.

 

[jeroendebleser]

Well, 1200 stores would have a good amount of employees and then you have to look at the headquarters too. That is a lot of jobs. I feel sorry for the workers.

True as well

 

[aphextwin]

I didn't even know anyone actually went to GNC anymore.

 

[USMuscle9403]

I didn't even know anyone actually went to GNC anymore.

lol they don't