Vitacost

Vitacost.com, Inc. is an American e-commerce company based in Boca Raton, Florida, that sells vitamins, supplements and organic grocery products.[2] The company was bought by Kroger in 2014.[3] Vitacost was inducted into Inc Magazine's "Inc. 500 Lifetime Hall of Fame," in 2006 as one of the US's 500 fastest-growing privately held businesses for five consecutive years (2001–2005).[4]

Vitacost
TypeSubsidiary
Founded1994 (1994)
HeadquartersBoca Raton, Florida
ProductsHealth foods, nutritional supplements, vitamins, beverages, herbs; bath, baby, pet and beauty products[1]
ParentKroger
Websitewww.vitacost.com

History

Vitacost began operations in 1994 as a catalog retailer of third-party vitamins and supplements under the name Nature's Wealth Company.[5] In 1999, the company launched Vitacost.com and introduced proprietary vitamins and supplements, which has since expanded to include food, beauty products and sports nutrition.[2]

The company completed construction of a manufacturing facility located in Lexington, North Carolina in 2008. [6] Effective September 1, 2012, Vitacost agreed to lease its manufacturing facilities to a third party provider.

On September 23, 2009, Vitacost went public.[7][8] During 2010, the company expanded and upgraded its West Coast distribution facility located in Las Vegas, Nevada. The Company began a similar project for its east coast distribution center, located in Lexington, North Carolina in the spring of 2010, with the building construction completed in the first quarter of 2011.

In October 2012, Vitacost.com launched a cruelty-free specialty store showcasing beauty and personal care products that are independently certified by the Leaping Bunny Program, which is operated by the Coalition for Consumer Information on Cosmetics.[9][10]

In 2013, Vitacost kicked off several new product lines, including a new sports nutrition line, ARO: Black Series,[11] which includes pre- and post-workout formulas, protein powders, flavored glutamine, creatine and branched-chain amino acids.

Kroger announced in July 2014 that it would purchase Vitacost.com for $280 million.[3] The acquisition was completed in August 2014.[12]

Reception

In 2017, the company received two awards from the ConsumerLab.com Survey for Top-rated Supplement Brands on Overall Consumer Satisfaction and Top-rated Supplement Merchants on Overall Consumer Satisfaction.[13]

References
  1. "Company Overview of Vitacost.com, Inc. - Snapshot - Bloomberg". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2017-05-22.
  2. "Vitacost.com Inc. News - Company Information - The New York Times". Topics.nytimes.com. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  3. Gasparro, Annie (July 2, 2014). "Kroger Agrees to Buy Online Vitamin Seller Vitacost". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2019-10-12.
  4. "Inc. 500 Hall of Fame, Growing Your Business Article | Inc. 5000". Inc.com. 2009-10-28. Retrieved 2012-11-17.
  5. "Deerfield-based Vitacost to sell shares, hoping to net $57.3 million - Sun Sentinel". Articles.sun-sentinel.com. 2007-06-22. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  6. "Vitacost.com, Inc, Form 424B4, Filing Date Sep 24, 2009". secdatabase.com. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  7. You Missed This IPO. , September 28, 2009
  8. UPDATE 1-Vitacost IPO prices for $12, within range. , September 23, 2009
  9. Sat, Nov 17, 2012, 1:50 PM EST - U.S. Markets closed (Oct 8, 2012). "Cost and Cruelty-Free Manufacturing Practices Matter Most to Beauty Shoppers, Vitacost Survey Finds". Finance.yahoo.com. Archived from the original on 2012-10-18. Retrieved 2019-10-12.CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  10. "COST AND CRUELTY-FREE MANUFACTURING PROCESSES MATTER MOST TO BEAUTY SHOPPERS, VITACOST SURVEY FINDS". Leaping Bunny Program. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  11. Miriam Valverde (2013-05-07). "Boca Raton online retailer launches new sports nutrition line". Sun Sentinel. Retrieved 2013-08-07.
  12. "Kroger completes purchase of Vitacost.com". bizjournals.com. Triad Business Journal. Aug 19, 2014.
  13. "Top-rated Vitamin and Supplement Brands and Merchants for 2017 Based on Consumer Satisfaction". www.consumerlab.com. Retrieved 2017-06-06.
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