GNC Nutrition is planning to close as many as 1,200 of its stores nationwide.
The Emporia store at Flinthills Mall has escaped this round of closures. Stores in Chanute, Hutchinson, Lawrence, Leawood and Topeka will close as part of a restructuring process that will see the company close as many as 20 percent of its retail stores.
GNC has been in business for 85 years, but it has nearly $1 billion of debt to manage and was having declining sales at its brick-and-mortar locations before coronavirus entered the business picture. The company had a refinancing plan in place, but COVID-19 has changed those plans.
Nearly a third of GNC stores in the United States and Canada had to close on a short-term basis due to coronavirus. First-quarter losses were around $200 million as reported last month.
