Health product retailer General Nutrition Corporation is returning to Canada – after pulling out altogether eight years ago – this time, with corporate-owned stores.

Between 1978-88, there were 35 gnc franchises across Ontario, but the franchise agreement wasn’t renewed by the corporation because of ‘poor operating standards,’ according to gnc’s director of Canadian operations Michael Rapport.

Since the end of October, seven gncs have opened in the Toronto area with plans to open 25 more over the next year – primarily in southern Ontario, says Rapport from the company’s Mississauga, Ont. office.

Rapport says the company decided to try again because of the obvious interest on the part of Canadians in gnc products. According to the company, at the time it decided to re-evaluate the Canadian market, over 4,000 Canadians living in southern Ontario had an active GNC Gold Card.

Six awareness-building 30-sec. radio spots, created by Toronto’s Harland Des Rocher, are airing for three weeks, says Rapport. Also, a direct mail piece was sent out to the 4,000 residents who currently cross the border to buy gnc products just to let them know that gnc is now in Canada, he adds.

Research indicated that Canadians were stocking up when they crossed the border to visit a gnc, says Rapport. Where American Gold Card holders spend an average of $52 per visit, their Canadian counterparts were spending $87. ‘They make it a pilgrimmage,’ he says.

In essence, gnc takes alternative health care – supplements, herbs, homeopathy and health foods – and makes it as mainstream and accessible as the local mall. In fact, the majority of gncs are located in malls, according to Rapport.

He says that a novice can enter a gnc and feel comfortable browsing because, unlike the health section of most health food stores and drugstores, stock is organized by category, rather than by brand.

Besides having to reformulate some supplements to meet Canadian health regulations and redesigning labels to make them bilingual – changes which cost the company about us$2 million – there are other considerations the company has to make when marketing products in Canada.

A major consideration is the fact that companies cannot offer free supplements in Canada. In the u.s., supplements come under the same regulatory body as food, whereas in Canada they are considered a drug. So, giving them away or promoting them in any way is prohibited, says Rapport.

This makes for an interesting store layout. Any literature having to do with supplements has to be situated at least six feet away from the very products being discussed, says Rapport, adding, ‘We’re very careful about placement.’

The company’s u.s. advertising budget is us$23 million and Rapport says he expects the Canadian ad budget to be somewhere in the $500,000 range for the first year or so.

Media is handled by Toronto’s Western International Media. Rapport says gnc will do tv advertising only after at least 50 stores have opened, a critical mass he expects to reach in a few years.