The Vitamin Shoppe
Encyclopedia
The Vitamin Shoppe is a New Jersey
-based retailer of nutritional supplements with 500 locations in 37 states. The company is one of the leading providers of supplements in the United States
, providing approximately 8,000 different skus of supplements through its retail stores and over 20,000 different skus of supplements through its online retail websites.
In 2002, Vitamin Shoppe Industries was sold to an affiliate of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, a private equity
unit of Bear Stearns
, for approximately $310 million. The company made $751.5 million in net sales in Fiscal 2010 and has a market capitalization of over $1 billion.
The Vitamin Shoppe held an initial public offering
on October 26, 2009.
) and the Bodytech brand of sports supplements. In addition to their own brands, the company carries third-party lines, including professional and specialized lines.
found 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily serving in Vitamin Shoppe's "Especially for Women" multivitamin. 15.3 micrograms is more than ten times the amount of lead permitted without a warning label in California, the only state to regulate lead in supplements. In the wake of extensive adverse media coverage, Vitamin Shoppe withdrew the product, but in a statement made by CEO Tom Tolworthy, denied it had any proof the vitamins were contaminated, and asserted that, despite the high lead levels found in the Consumer Labs tests, its vitamins were manufactured in accordance with "good manufacturing practices."
On June 15, 2011, Vitamin Shoppe's Ultimate Woman Gold multivitamin was tested by ConsumerLab.com
in their Multivitamin and Multimineral Supplements Review of 38 of the leading multivitamin/multimineral products sold in the U.S. and Canada. This multivitamin passed ConsumerLab's test, which included testing of selected index elements, their ability to disintegrate in solution per United States Pharmacopeia
guidelines, lead contamination threshold set in California Proposition 65, and meeting U.S. Food and Drug Administration
(FDA) labeling requirements.
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
-based retailer of nutritional supplements with 500 locations in 37 states. The company is one of the leading providers of supplements in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, providing approximately 8,000 different skus of supplements through its retail stores and over 20,000 different skus of supplements through its online retail websites.
In 2002, Vitamin Shoppe Industries was sold to an affiliate of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking, a private equity
Private equity
Private equity, in finance, is an asset class consisting of equity securities in operating companies that are not publicly traded on a stock exchange....
unit of Bear Stearns
Bear Stearns
The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc. based in New York City, was a global investment bank and securities trading and brokerage, until its sale to JPMorgan Chase in 2008 during the global financial crisis and recession...
, for approximately $310 million. The company made $751.5 million in net sales in Fiscal 2010 and has a market capitalization of over $1 billion.
The Vitamin Shoppe held an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
on October 26, 2009.
Products
The Vitamin Shoppe's retail stores and online sites carry a line of nutritional supplements with supplementary lines, such as Vitamin Shoppe's M.D. Select (a line put together by Dr. Ronald HoffmanRonald Hoffman
Ronald Hoffman, M.D. is an American physician, author, and broadcaster in the United States who hosts Health Talk, a syndicated radio talk show. He is the founder and director of the Hoffman Center in New York City, and is a practitioner of holistic medicine...
) and the Bodytech brand of sports supplements. In addition to their own brands, the company carries third-party lines, including professional and specialized lines.
Reception
On January 19, 2007, independent laboratory ConsumerLab.comConsumerLab.com
ConsumerLab.com is a provider of independent test results and information to help consumers and healthcare professionals evaluate health, wellness, and nutrition products. ConsumerLab.com was founded in 1999. It is subscription fee based....
found 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily serving in Vitamin Shoppe's "Especially for Women" multivitamin. 15.3 micrograms is more than ten times the amount of lead permitted without a warning label in California, the only state to regulate lead in supplements. In the wake of extensive adverse media coverage, Vitamin Shoppe withdrew the product, but in a statement made by CEO Tom Tolworthy, denied it had any proof the vitamins were contaminated, and asserted that, despite the high lead levels found in the Consumer Labs tests, its vitamins were manufactured in accordance with "good manufacturing practices."
On June 15, 2011, Vitamin Shoppe's Ultimate Woman Gold multivitamin was tested by ConsumerLab.com
ConsumerLab.com
ConsumerLab.com is a provider of independent test results and information to help consumers and healthcare professionals evaluate health, wellness, and nutrition products. ConsumerLab.com was founded in 1999. It is subscription fee based....
in their Multivitamin and Multimineral Supplements Review of 38 of the leading multivitamin/multimineral products sold in the U.S. and Canada. This multivitamin passed ConsumerLab's test, which included testing of selected index elements, their ability to disintegrate in solution per United States Pharmacopeia
United States Pharmacopeia
The United States Pharmacopeia is the official pharmacopeia of the United States, published dually with the National Formulary as the USP-NF. The United States Pharmacopeial Convention is the nonprofit organization that owns the trademark and copyright to the USP-NF and publishes it every year...
guidelines, lead contamination threshold set in California Proposition 65, and meeting U.S. Food and Drug Administration
Food and Drug Administration
The Food and Drug Administration is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, one of the United States federal executive departments...
(FDA) labeling requirements.