verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . february 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message gnc holdings inc. type public traded as nyse gnc industry retail founded 1935 registered 9 1 1936 founder david shakarian headquarters pittsburgh pennsylvania united states number of locations 7 334 march 2011 1 key people mike archbold ceo 2 products nutritional supplements revenue 2.63 billion 2013 owner ontario teachers pension plan ares management number of employees 13 800 website www.gnc.com gnc holdings inc. is a pittsburgh pennsylvania based american commercial enterprise focused on the retail sale of health and nutrition related products including vitamins supplements minerals herbs sports nutrition diet and energy products . contents 1 history 2 retail stores 3 business model 4 lawsuits 5 references 6 external links history edit a gnc store at promenade in 1935 david shakarian opened a small health food store lackzoom in downtown pittsburgh . he only made usd 35 on his first day but was able to open a second store within six months . a year later shakarian suffered from what appeared to be a fatal blow when the ohio river flooded on st. patrick s day . both of his stores were wiped out . however he quickly rebuilt both stores and opened five more by 1941 . the company officially registered as a corporation on september 1 1936 shakarian moved into the mail order business during wwii . he said that customers sent him a check and asked him to mail their product as they could not drive to his store due to the gas rationing which happened during wwii . during the health food craze of the 1960s shakarian expanded his chain outside pittsburgh for the first time and in the process changed its name to general nutrition center . he continued to run the chain until his death in 1984 . shakarian took gnc public listed on the nyse in the 1980s . overexpansion and his death in 1984 resulted in a highly leveraged gnc . the shakarian family decided to sell gnc shortly after his death . the family brought in a turn around executive jerry horn with instructions to stop the bleeding and position gnc to be sold . in 1990 the company considered relocating but a public private effort retained gnc headquarters in downtown pittsburgh . 3 gnc was taken private and sold to the thomas lee company a pe investment management fund in the late 1980s . thomas lee ran gnc and took it public prior to selling the company to royal dutch numico and numico acquired gnc in 1999 ; it sold gnc to apollo management in 2003 . ontario teachers pension plan and ares management bought gnc in 2007 . gnc went public in 2011 . retail stores edit gnc store ypsilanti twp . mi gnc stores typically stock a wide range of weight loss bodybuilding nutritional supplements vitamins natural remedies and health and beauty products in both its owned brands as well as third party brands . the stores also sell health and fitness books and magazines . gnc has more than 6 000 stores in the u.s. including 1 100 store within a store locations within rite aid as well as locations in 49 other countries . in addition gnc livewell currently has 41 stores located in brisbane sydney and melbourne in australia . business model edit gnc retail stores are both a combination of corporate owned and franchised stores ; 950 of the 5 000 domestic us stores are franchises commonly located within urban shopping malls and shopping zones . in addition to the gnc.com website gnc s products are sold on drugstore.com . lawsuits edit in 1998 gnc was accused of purposely running its franchisees out of business in order to retake the stores into corporate control . 4 an april 30 2003 article states that the gnc corporate company was sued by numerous franchise owners . 5 the complaint is that the parent company was allowing their corporate owned stores to sell products for less than the franchise stores are allowed to sell them for . the suit also claimed that gnc charged high reset fees to franchisees when there is new signage that needs to be changed in the store or an image facelift that must be done by gnc corporate . a similar lawsuit was filed again in an article written on october 20 2004 . 6 in 2013 the fda tested 21 of gnc s dietary supplements which claimed to be all natural . in april 2015 the fda s enforcement heightened when it issued a series of warnings to the supplement industry regarding unapproved ingredients . in october 2015 the state of oregon s attorney general filed a lawsuit against gnc alleging that the company knowingly sold products containing the ingredients picamilon and bmpea which are banned by the fda . 7 8 9 references edit 1 dead link bloombergbusiness executive profile michael g. archbold . bloomberg.com . bloombergbusiness . retrieved december 17 2015 . daparma ron april 17 2003 robinson to retire as ridc president pittsburgh tribune review pittsburgh pa franchisees on edge ; some angry ones sue as gnc competes . new york times . 2001 08 22 . retrieved 2014 02 11 . franchisees sue gnc in new jersey pittsburgh business times . bizjournals.com . 2003 04 30 . retrieved 2014 02 11 . gnc franchisees file lawsuit pittsburgh business times . bizjournals.com . 2004 10 20 . retrieved 2014 02 11 . aguillard anna 30 november 2015 . oregon s crackdown on gnc part of nation wide crackdown on dietary supplement industry . legal news line . retrieved 1 december 2015 . young alison 23 october 2015 . oregon ag accuses retailer gnc of selling drug spiked dietary supplements . usa today . retrieved 1 december 2015 . germano sara ; ng serena 22 october 2015 . the wall street journal http www.wsj.com articles oregon sues gnc alleging supplements contained illegal ingredients 1445543143 . retrieved 1 december 2015 . missing or empty title help health portal pittsburgh portal external links edit gnc official website v t e pittsburgh history 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folk handmade new works tekko whiskey & fine spirits wine shopping and entertainment casino gateway clipper fleet station square strip downtown oakland south side macy s market square southside works waterworks mount washington east liberty squirrel hill shadyside walnut street opera ballet symphony brass classical theatre dance ensemble caravan theatre folk light opera opera theater jewish theatre public theater playwrights musical theater stage right youth ballet youth symphony bricolage nnoc v t e shopping malls in pittsburgh enclosed beaver valley mall the block northway century iii mall the galleria of mt. lebanon the mall at robinson monroeville mall pittsburgh mills ross park mall south hills village station square uniontown mall