GNC Plans To Close 200 Locations

GNC

As it seeks to optimize its store portfolio, GNC is planning on closing approximately 200 stores in 2018. And the retailer said a very limited number of stores will open this year, Retail Dive reported.

Still, GNC is still working towards renegotiating leases and relocating stores. As of the end of March, the retailer had almost 3,400 corporate stores within the U.S. and Canada. The company also had just under 1,100 franchised locations in the U.S. and 2,428 franchised stores in Rite Aid. In all, GNC has just over 8,900 stores throughout the world.

As far as sales are concerned, GNC is seeing revenue growth overseas even as revenues within the U.S. and Canada falter. Though revenues in U.S. and Canada dropped 4.5 percent in Q1 of 2018 $24.2 million from the prior year quarter, international sales increased 0.8 percent $0.3 million over the same period. That increase was mainly fueled by increased China cross-border eCommerce sales.

The news comes as GNC announced in 2016 that it planned to sell off 1,000 of its locations beginning with 200 that year. It’s a plan, the company had noted, built out from the supplement retailer’s agreement with Sun Holdings to refranchise 84 of its stores to the latter company for $17 million.

We are very pleased to announce the completion of this refranchising agreement, which is part of our strategic plan to transition approximately 200 company-owned store locations to an asset-light franchise model this year and 1,000 company-owned store locations over the next three to four years,” said Mike Archbold in 2016, who was the CEO of GNC at the time.

Retail Dive posited in 2016 that a large factor, which might have contributed to GNC’s big selloff, is a perception among consumers — backed up by an increasing amount of research — that the alleged benefits of the supplements, on which the retail chain has built its business, are not legitimate. In some cases, noted the outlet, supplements might even be harmful.


Treasury IG and GAO Investigate DOGE Access to Federal Payment Systems

US Treasury Department, DOGE, investigations

The Treasury Inspector General and the Government Accountability Office (GAO) are investigating the reported decision by Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent to allow the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to access government payment systems.

The investigations were announced in a Friday (Feb. 14) press release issued by the Democratic membership of the Senate Banking Committee, which included links to letters from the agencies sent in response to a request for an investigation from Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Ron Wyden, D-Ore.

In one letter, whose signer was redacted, the GAO said: “GAO accepts your request as work that is within the scope of its authority. As we discussed with your staff, given the broad congressional interest of this request, we are accepting this work with the understanding that any Member of Congress can sign on to the work as a co-requester. We plan to conduct one body of audit work and issue multiple reports, if needed.”

In the other letter included with the press release, Treasury Department Deputy Inspector General Loren J. Sciurba wrote that the Office of the Inspector General began an audit related to the Bureau of the Fiscal Service’s payment systems on Feb. 6.

The audit aims to determine the adequacy of controls in place for access to the payment system and for ensuring payments are made in accordance with laws, and to follow up on any allegations of improper or fraudulent payments made by the Fiscal Service, Sciurba said in the letter.

“Given the breadth of this effort, the audit will likely not be completed until August; however, we recognize the danger that improper access or inadequate controls can pose to the integrity of sensitive payment systems,” Sciurba wrote. “As such, if critical issues come to light before that time, we will issue interim updates and reports.”

It was reported Feb. 2 that Bessent gave DOGE access to the federal payment system that disburses money on behalf of the federal government. This access provides DOGE with a tool that can be used to monitor and limit government spending.

The members of the DOGE team who were given access to the system were made Treasury employees, passed government background checks and obtained security clearances. Treasury Department attorneys approved the granting of access.