GNC to Close 1200 Stores and File for Bankruptcy

Source: GNC
GNC has announced they will file for bankruptcy protection and close up to 1200 stores after being saddled with nearly $1 billion in debt.
According to CNN, the 85-year-old company has suffered from declining sales at its brick and mortar locations since before the coronavirus pandemic, however, COVID-19 stay-at-home orders had a “dramatic negative effect” on its business.
The company plans to close between 800 and 1200 underperforming locations – approximately 20 percent of its retail stores – and hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in the fall.
According to Business Insider, GNC said in a statement the coronavirus pandemic “created a situation where we were unable to accomplish our refinancing and the abrupt change in the operating environment had a dramatic negative impact on our business.”
Business Insider reports stores are closing in 42 states, as well as in Puerto Rico and Canada.