Vitamin Shoppe announces first Pittsburgh location
Pittsburgh Business Times - by Tim Schooley
The Vitamin Shoppe, a New Jersey-based competitor of Downtown-based General Nutrition Centers Inc., has committed to its first Pittsburgh-area location.
Brian Kerr, vice president for Downtown-based Langholz Wilson Ellis Inc. who is representing the company in its local site search, said The Vitamin Shoppe has committed to lease the former location of a Boston Market restaurant at the Waterfront in Homestead, southeast of Pittsburgh.
He expects the store will open sometime in the fall.
Privately held, The Vitamin Shoppe operates stores of approximately 3,500 square feet, nearly twice the size of GNC stores, and focuses on offering national brands at competitive prices. The Vitamin Shoppe, which first revealed its intention to expand into the Pittsburgh market to the Business Times in June, expects to open locations throughout the region's major trade areas, including the Parkway West corridor, the North Hills and Monroeville.
The company hopes to open eight to 12 locations the Pittsburgh area in the next 18 months.
Corey Bialow, who oversees The Vitamin Shoppe's real estate, told the Business Times in June that Pittsburgh is the largest market The Vitamin Shoppe has yet to enter but that the company competes with GNC (NYSE: GNC) everywhere it operates.
The Vitamin Shoppe's annual sales are approximately $600 million. The company registered for an initial public offering last year, but has yet to formally issue shares of public stock.
tschooley@bizjournals.com | (412) 208-3826
