The Vitamin Shoppe, a retailer of vitamins and nutritional supplements, has been acquired from the private equity firms Kingswood Capital Management LP and Performance Investment Partners LLC.
Headquartered in Secaucus, New Jersey, The Vitamin Shoppe conducts business through over 650 company-operated retail stores under The Vitamin Shoppe and Super Supplements banners and via its website. The financial aspects of the transactions were not disclosed, although the trade journal Retail Dive reported the purchase price was $193.5 million.
The seller in the transaction, Franchise Group, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last November. The company’s other brands include Pet Supplies Plus, Buddy’s Home Furnishings, and American Freight.
In a joint statement, Kingswood Partner Michael Niegsch and PIP Partner Mark Genender said, “We are excited to partner with The Vitamin Shoppe team and help them build upon the success the business has enjoyed over the last forty-eight years. We plan to make significant investments in the company’s third-party brand relationships, research and development across The Vitamin Shoppe’s owned proprietary brand portfolio, upgrades to the store fleet, and improvements to the omni-channel digital platform to deliver the best possible experience to customers. Further, The Vitamin Shoppe is the perfect partner for emerging and growing brands that can benefit from access to over 650 retail doors and The Vitamin Shoppe’s millions of loyalty members at a time in history when it is more important than ever for these brands to demonstrate success and traction in physical retail as well as online.”
