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GNC or "General Nutrition Store" as the store name implies is a health food store; it's a great brick and mortar store for getting your supplements in person. They have a great selection in all categories of nutrition and supplementation including some actual food/drink items, beauty care, exercise accessories and even pet supplements lol. The selection is solid and the prices are fair... kind of... read on! To get the best prices you must have a membership. To elaborate they have membership card that saves you up to 50% on some items, although you won't get this high of a discount on most items you will always save a few bucks here and there making it a must for most shoppers. Non-membership prices would make this store overpriced compared to the competition and this is what I don't like. It's a bit of a gimmick because unless you're buying one small item and never coming back then you should absolutely purchase the membership. It's like when Safeway used to have their "Club Card" that was free but saved you all this money, whereas in reality it was just bringing your costs down to competitor levels and creating the illusion of savings. The GNC Membership is basically the same thing, but it's not free! It costs $15/year or $20 for a 2-year membership. Their regular prices are marked up compared to competitors and the membership you pay for brings it down to fair level, but it's deceptive in creating the illusion of big savings. I will admit that some of their sales are great and definitely priced better than some of the competitors, but in general non-sale items are the same as the competitor after you add in the membership discount. Some good alternatives are Popeye's and Reflex Supplements. Popeye's is generally cheaper and have better sales; Reflex Supplements has a price match policy and will match "membership prices". Furthermore Popeye's does VIP and Anniversary sales events that include a bunch of free samples and swag, they also throw in free stuff with most purchases and give a "Popeye's Buck" for every $25 spent. Reflex has a free membership program that saves you 10% and for every $100 you spent you get a $20 VIP Coupon for next time, basically you get 20% back! I consider both these supplement stores better for this reason, plus there's no deception and no gimmicks. Yet I still come back to GNC... Why?!? Hate to say it, but their locations are often convenient. This one is located in Chinook and sometimes paying a little extra cancels out having to drive somewhere else. Time is money right? Also as I mentioned in the first paragraph, great stock! Lots of items at GNC stores, some that the competitors don't carry! I still think online is the best combo of value + convenience, but when you need something ASAP or if you lack the knowledge to make a purchase on your own then brick and mortar is still the way to go. In speaking to the service I've traditionally gotten at GNC, the staff is nice enough and make a good effort to try and help, but a lot of them are just not that educated when it comes to supplements. I also find some will try to push certain products that aren't necessarily better, a lot of times they're GNC products as well. So either there's a better profit margin with certain items or they just lack the knowledge to suggest the right choice. Either way the advice I get at GNC is typically worse than the competitor stores where staff is less bias and more experienced. read more
