Time to Trade in Your 'Clunker' Career for a Franchise Opportunity With GNC?

PITTSBURGH, PA--(Marketwire - November 9, 2009) - With unemployment at 10.2% and growing, the economic climate for many hard-working Americans is challenging, to say the least. Despite economic hard times, however, the supplement and self-care industry -- a $21 billion industry -- continues to grow at a rate of 4%-6% each year, according to GNC, the largest global specialty retailer of nutritional products including vitamin, mineral, herbal and other specialty supplements and sports nutrition, diet and energy products.

Recognizing the new supply of talent looking for new and more entrepreneurial opportunities in 2009, GNC is offering an incentive to individuals who are looking for a fresh start and are searching for a strong and proven company. Through December 31, 2009, GNC is offering 50% off the initial franchise fee to those who are qualified and interested in a great opportunity to start a GNC franchise.

"At a time when many retailers are going out of business, cutting jobs and closing locations, GNC sales are as strong as ever and the company continues to expand its retail locations," says Executive Vice President of Store Development Tom Dowd. "For the past 75 years, GNC has expanded its worldwide network to over 6,700 stores in the U.S. and 47 global markets -- and we're still growing!"

"With the ongoing tightening of the credit markets we are offering aggressive discounts on the franchise fee to be more supportive with entrepreneurs in attracting them to GNC franchising," said Dowd. "We have many great locations available throughout the country. GNC is looking forward to continued growth with potential new partners. This is a fantastic industry and GNC is 11 times larger than our nearest competitor in our category."

Dowd pointed to these five reasons for calling GNC now:

--  Life expectancy has increased 30 years in the last century.
--  As Americans become more conscious of the value of maintaining a
    healthy lifestyle, they become more proactive in preventive care.
--  Baby boomers account for $1.5 trillion spent on goods and services,
    with two times the disposable income of any other age group.  As boomers
    continue to age, their main concern is health care costs and living well.
--  Annual growth in the supplement industry is expected to rise steadily
    through 2012, according to the Nutrition Business Journal, making now the
    perfect time to open a GNC franchise.
--  For the past 19 years in a row, GNC has been ranked as the #1
    franchise in the Supplement category and in 2008 was ranked 23rd overall by
    Entrepreneur Magazine.
    

This is the perfect opportunity to operate a business and begin a new career as a GNC franchisee! Individuals who are looking for a career change and are not existing GNC franchise operators are eligible for the 50% franchise fee discount. Additionally, there is financial support available to qualified individuals.

Learn more about how you can be a part of this exciting and growing business, visit www.GNCFranchising.com for more information.

About GNC

GNC, headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pa., is a leading global specialty retailer of nutritional products including vitamin, mineral, herbal and other specialty supplements and sports nutrition, diet and energy products. As of September 30, 2009, GNC has more than 6,700 locations, of which more than 5,300 retail locations were in the United States (including 919 franchise and 1,814 Rite Aid franchise store-within-a-store locations) and franchise operations in 47 international markets. The Company -- which is dedicated to helping consumers Live Well -- also offers products and product information online at www.gnc.com.

Contact Information: Media Contact: Laura Brophy 203-364-8657