GNC to Open 200 sales boutiques within Rite Aid Corp
"GNC plans to open 150-200 new U.S. shops this year, plus 200 additional sales boutiques within Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE:RAD) stores. GNC also plans 120-130 new stores overseas."
Taken from last part of this news release:
03/06 16:42 Reuters
UPDATE 1-Numico warns of slower U.S. supplement growth
(Adds details)
By Eric Onstad
THE HAGUE, March 6 (Reuters) - Dutch food group Numico (NUMNc) warned on Tuesday that it would miss a medium-term sales target this year due to a slowdown in the U.S. food supplement market.
But the world's biggest food supplement producer said it would benefit from a "shakeout" in the sector, enabling it to grab market share from weaker competitors.
Numico had previously set a target of expanding sales in its food supplement business by 15 percent each year, but Chief Executive Hans Van der Wielen said Numico will fall short in 2001.
"We are not going to meet the 15 percent target in the United States. It will be in the high single digits this year," Van der Wielen told Reuters.
Food supplements now make up over half of Numico's sales after the $2.5 billion takeover of General Nutrition Cos. (GNC) in 1999.
Van der Wielen said Numico's leading market position and strong brands would allow it to grow at the expense of competitors that have been hit much harder by a decline in the food supplements market.
"A large number of these companies are not going to survive," he told a news conference.
MARKET SHARE GROWS
Numico's food supplement market share in the United States grew to 26.7 percent last year from 25.8 percent in 1999, based on a total market size of $9.88 billion, up 3 percent from the previous year.
"Right now we are still gaining ground. I expect (market share growth) to continue at about the same pace this year," GNC Chief Executive Greg Horn said.
While many firms were bleeding, GNC sales improved in the first two months of the year.
Comparable-store sales at GNC outlets rose 2.5 percent in January and February, compared with the same period last year, after a 0.8 percent rise in the fourth quarter of 2000.
This is still well below the 9.5 percent growth in the first quarter of 2000, but Horn said he expected GNC this year to meet its same-store sales target of 2-4 percent growth.
Latest market data from the Information Resources Institute (IRI) showed a 9.1 percent decline in U.S. mass market food supplement sales in January, after a 12 percent fall in December.
Numico said only 14 percent of its U.S. supplement business is represented in the IRI data, which does not include Numico value-added products, such as sports formulas and diet drinks.
Previously, Numico said new GNC store openings and new products would help it meet the 15 percent sales target for supplements, but Van der Wielen said they would not provide enough boost this year.
Horn said GNC plans to open 150-200 new U.S. shops this year, plus 200 additional sales boutiques within Rite Aid Corp. (NYSE:RAD) stores. GNC also plans 120-130 new stores overseas.
Copyright © 2000 Reuters Limited.
Source: siliconinvestor.com
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They already have GNC in some Rite Aids (put a zip code in gnc.com, but it will be expanded. I don't know how much RAD is receiving for this, or what the benefit(s) are. |
