GNC’s Board of Directors has unanimously approved the appointment of Chief Executive Officer Ken Martindale to the additional role of chairman, effective immediately, the company announced Friday morning.

Martindale succeeds Bob Moran, who will remain on the Board and assume the role of lead independent director.

"Ken has demonstrated exceptional leadership and strategic insight in his role as CEO, and the Board looks forward to continuing to benefit from his insight and expertise as he assumes the role of chairman," Moran said in a released statement. "We are confident that under Ken's continued leadership, we will be even better positioned to effectively implement our strategic plans and drive shareholder value."

Martindale was named CEO in September, succeeding Moran, who was the interim chief executive since July 2016. Moran stayed on as non-executive chairman to help Martindale transition into the new position.

Martindale, in the same statement, said, "I am honored to take on this new role as we accelerate our efforts to reposition GNC to drive growth, improve our financial strength and performance and enhance shareholder value. We continue to expect the transaction with Harbin Pharmaceutical Group to close later this year, and I look forward to working with the rest of the Board as we execute our strategy to build on the strength of the GNC brand, leverage our capabilities in product and service innovation, expand our international presence and deliver a compelling, integrated customer experience."

Before joining GNC last year, Martindale was an executive at Rite-Aid since 2008. He became president and chief operating officer in June 2013 and chief executive officer in August 2015.

He stepped in to lead a company that saw same-store sales free-fall throughout fiscal 2016. After Moran was appointed interim CEO, transactions began to increase in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2016, although net losses continued.

When GNC announced its second-quarter earnings last month, consolidated revenue had declined 9.4 percent to $617.9 million in the second quarter of 2017. The decrease was due to the sale of Lucky Vitamin and the closure of some locations where leases had expired, CFO Tricia Tolivar said.  

It also reported a slight decrease in same-store sales, including GNC.com. E-commerce sales accounted for 8.3 percent of the company’s revenue in the United States and Canada.

Source: GNC Holdings