GNC, the retail chain that specializes in vitamin and dietary supplements, has filed for bankruptcy and says it will close up to 1,200 stores.
The 85-year-old company is more than $1 billion in debt and was already facing declining sales at brick-and-mortar locations prior to the pandemic. GNC said re-financing plans were in the works earlier this year, but COVID-19 prevented the company from carrying them out.
The company says it expects to emerge from bankruptcy in the fall.
"The Chapter 11 process will allow us to accelerate these strategies and invest in the appropriate areas to evolve in the future, while improving our capital structure and balance sheet," GNC said in a letter to shoppers.
According to CNN, GNC reported losses of $200 million in the first quarter after 30 percent of its stores in the U.S. and Canada were forced to close. The company lost $15 million in that same time span in 2019.