GNC reorganizes leadership to advance company’s repositioning efforts

GNC Holdings Inc., a leading global health and wellness brand, announced Monday that it is making key leadership changes to support its ongoing repositioning efforts.

GNC’s sales and revenue have been dropping for about three years. The company’s first-quarter earnings, which were released in April, reported revenue of $564.8 million, down 7% from 2018, and a net loss of $15.3 million compared with net income of $6.2 million a year earlier.

CEO Ken Martindale, who is also chairman of the board of directors, joined the company in September 2017. Earlier this year, GNC formed a joint venture with Harbin Pharmaceutical Group to sell GNC-branded products in China.

GNC’s goal is to drive future growth and to expand its brand and product portfolio across the globe. It plans to grow the GNC brand; improve shoppers’ experiences; increase membership in its loyalty program; move or close stores that are not profitable; and continue to innovate new products.

Ryan Ostrom will become GNC’s chief brand officer effective July 1. As such, he will lead the brand, marketing, digital and e-commerce strategy for the organization and will play a key role in guiding the business as GNC continues to evolve its position in the market. He will report directly to Martindale.

Ostrom brings more than a decade of experience in leadership roles in brand management, digital marketing and e-commerce, most recently serving as global chief digital officer for KFC, where he led development and execution of the company's global digital strategy.

To further expand its global reach, the GNC has promoted Carl Seletz to the role of chief global officer, effectively immediately. Seletz will lead the retail, wholesale and distribution functions as well as e-commerce support for the international channels. He will oversee all business outside of the United States.

Seletz has more than 30 years of international retail experience in both brand management and operational roles in the U.S. and abroad. For the past six years, he has served as the senior vice president of international for GNC. In this role, he has led business development internationally while overseeing operations in more than 50 countries. He will continue to report to Martindale.

In addition, Rachel Jones, most recently vice president of international merchandising and marketing at GNC, has been promoted to vice president of global brands. In this role, Jones will be responsible for product brand strategy development and execution across all GNC-owned product lines.

Jones, who has been with the company for more than 15 years, brings a depth of experience in research and development, product innovation and brand management. In this role, she will report to Ostrom and continue to support global brand initiatives.

“These organizational changes mark a significant step in the ongoing evolution of our company. Ryan, Carl and Rachel will all play critical roles in executing our strategy to create seamless customer experiences across channels, grow our global presence and further leverage the power of our brand and broad product portfolio,” Martindale said in a released statement.

Source: GNC Holdings Inc.