GNC franchisee may enter Vietnam
General Nutrition Centres Inc, the US-based retailer of food supplements, vitamins and nutrition products, yesterday discussed with SSUP Total Wellness Co Ltd, its master franchisee for Thailand, the development of a GNC retail network in Vietnam.
"There are a lot of tourist bases in Vietnam, which drives demand for hotels, real estate, such as shopping complexes, and the retail industry. Consumer demand for food supplements and health products is now starting to be generated in Vietnam," said Reginald Steele, senior vice president of GN International Inc, which looks after the development of international business for GNC. Vietnam and Japan will be the next development focuses for GNC in Asia, he said. Founded in 1935, GNC is now one of the largest retailers for vitamins and food supplements, with more than 5,000 GNC outlets throughout America. About two-thirds are owned by GNC and the rest by independent franchisees. GNC stores carry about 3,000 items. GNC started to develop its retail business outside the United States in the early 1990s along with the growing desire of consumers around the world to take food supplements in addition to their normal diet. "Driven by medical research conducted across the world as well as the spread of media networks, global consumers have now good medical information. The move drives demand for generic health food stores in the markets around the world," Steele said. GNC has almost 200 franchised outlets in Mexico, its first market outside the US. Its master franchisee in Singapore has opened almost 160 GNC stores in Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei and Australia. "We so far have around 250 GNC franchised outlets across Asia and are going into the next step of development in our retail network in this region, starting with Vietnam," Steele said. SSUP Total Wellness started developing its GNC retail network in Thailand in 1996, director Chansiri Kulvaraporn said. Now the company has 25 GNC stores, of which 21 are in Bangkok and the others in Pattaya, Chiang Mai, Hat Yai and Phuket. About another five outlets will be opened next year, which should help boost reveneu 20 per cent from the Bt180-million the company expects this year. After spending almost eight years formulating products to match the requirements of Thai consumers, GNC yesterday launched its best-selling multivitamins - Mega Men and Mega Women - in the local market.
Kwanchai Rungfapaisarn The Nation
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