GNC, Rite Aid expand partnership

PITTSBURGH, Pa. and CAMP HILL, Pa. GNC and Rite Aid have agreed to extend and expand their partnership by adding 1,125 more GNC LiveWell store-within-a-store locations inside Rite Aid stores by the end of 2014. Currently, there are nearly 1,300 GNC stores-within-a-store operating in Rite Aid locations across the country as part of a partnership that began in December 1998.

The contract with GNC also provides Rite Aid with the option to extend the contract for another five years through 2019 and open an additional 250 stores during this period.

"We're pleased to grow along with Rite Aid," said Tom Dowd, evp of store operations and development. "We see continued opportunity for both brands as a result of this relationship - which has already proven to be mutually beneficial. We're looking forward to the added convenience that Rite Aid offers our customers, and the increased brand exposure for GNC products in these stores-within-a-store."

Rite Aid plans to add several hundred GNC store-within-Rite Aid store locations during its current fiscal year, which ends March 1, 2008, including adding them to some of its recently acquired Brooks and Eckerd stores.