There isn?t one kind of fish oil at the new health and wellness store Vitapath in Leaside.
There aren?t two. There?s a shelf of them, and three floor-to-ceiling shelves of Omega-3s and three bays of multivitamins and bays of antioxidants and vitamins for kids, pets and athletes.
?There?s a lot of stuff, a lot of brands ? we have over 6,000 products and 300 brands. Our goal is to really wow the customer with the breadth of assortment as soon as they walk in the store,? said Musab Balbale, director of business development for the Vitamin Shoppe, as the chain is known in the U.S.
Unable to secure the Canadian trademark, it operates as Vitapath in Canada, at two new locations in Leaside and Newmarket. The stores represent the Vitamin Shoppe?s first international expansion.
It?s launching into a growing and increasingly competitive marketplace for vitamins and other health supplements.
According to the Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA), the Canadian natural health industry is valued at more than $3-billion, and employs more than 25,000 people.
According to data from Environics Analytics, about 20 per cent of the Canadian population took a multivitamin daily in 2012.
Seventy per cent of Canadians use natural health products on a daily basis ? either vitamins, supplements or herbal remedies, said CHFA spokesperson Michelle Book. That includes sports nutritional products but not sports drinks and foods like Gatorade or Power Bars.
GNC is the current market leader in the sector, with more than 7,800 locations, including franchise operations, in 55 countries and 2,157 Rite Aid franchises. More than 6,000 retail locations are in the U.S.
GNC began operating in Canada in 1996 and now has 167 retail locations. Gilles Houde, GNC Canada president and COO, says a minimum of six new stores are planned in 2013; up to 12 if they can find enough suitable retail space.
A publicly traded company, the Vitamin Shoppe has 570 stores in the U.S.
Net sales have grown from $436.5 million in 2005 to $856.6 million in 2011
and the Vitamin Shoppe has achieved positive comparable store sales for 18 consecutive years.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Karen Short, who follows both companies for investors, said GNC skews more towards to sports nutrition than the Vitamin Shoppe.
She said Vitamin Shoppe focuses heavily on A-Plus retail locations, making it more of a destination store, whereas GNC has gone more into malls.
?Vitamin Shoppe would tend to have higher conversion ratios?it is a destination, so people who go in the store actually do make a purchase?therefore Vitamin Shoppe would have higher sales-per-square-foot overall.?
In the U.S. ,Vitamin Shoppe stores average 3,500 square feet whereas GNCs are about 1,800 sq. ft., she said. The Leaside store is 2,000 square feet.
GNC is also more vertically integrated, including company operated and franchise stores, international stores and a manufacturing arm. GNC also owns the Lucky discount vitamin brand.
Short forecasts total sales for GNC company-operated retail and online operations at $1.8-billion (U.S.) for 2013 and $950-million (U.S.) for the Vitamin Shoppe.
?I don?t think this is an experiment. I think they are committed to opening stores in Canada?I think they are committed to Canada being about one-tenth of their revenue,? said Short.
Short says GNC and Vitamin Shoppe do comparably online, with both pulling in about $100-million in revenue from online sales.
She has an outperform rating on GNC and market perform on Vitamin Shoppe.
Vitapath is going after the 50-something woman who is concerned with remaining healthy as she ages or has a condition she is hoping to improve with vitamins and supplements. She is also shopping for her family, on the lookout for chewable vitamins for her fussy eaters.
It?s also going after athletes and hardcore fitness enthusiasts, who come in armed to the teeth with information they?ve gathered from chat rooms and websites on the best products for enhancing performance.
It?s going after aging baby boomers who want to stay healthy. In short, it?s going after everyone.
VitaPath focuses on working one-on-one with customers. The Leaside location employs a certified nutritionist.
Price point is important.
?One of the things we really care about is trying to provide everyday value. We think there is a lot of value when customers take supplements properly,? said Balbale. ?Most of our customers are regulars. That they can afford to take them on a regular basis is important to us.?
The store also carries natural bath and beauty products, free of the preservatives paraben and a strong selection of sports vitamins, minerals and supplements and aromatherapy products.
Natural health products are regulated by Health Canada and must meet safety standards based on the claims being made in order to be sold, says Book.
Maureen Atkinson, senior partner at J.C. Williams Group Limited, says it?s a growing sector and Vitapath is unlikely to steal market share from existing Canadian operations like Shoppers Drug Mart and other pharmacies and food retailers that sell vitamins and supplements.
?I don?t think they?re so unusually strong or have something that is so unique to our market that they?re going to kind of jump in and grab market share. In terms of something that is going to affect more traditional pharmacies?I think it would be a long time before that would happen in this case.?
?It might affect somebody like Noah?s (a Toronto health food store), but I don?t think for the big guys, it?s going to be meaningful,? she said.
Source: http://www.findata.co.nz/News/18669987/US_vitamin_giant_arrives_in_Canada.htm
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