Former GNC CEO joins The Vitamin Shoppe

The Vitamin Shoppe just announced that Josh Burris, Chief Executive Officer of rue21, has joined the company as an advisory board member.

Burris brings broad expertise in specialty retail, as well as health and wellness, to this role as advisor to The Vitamin Shoppe. Prior to joining fashion retailer rue21 in April, Burris served as CEO of GNC from October 2020 to January 2023, and as President of GNC from December 2019.

As an advisory board member, Burris will provide strategic advice and counsel to The Vitamin Shoppe on a range of business priorities across retail, operations, franchising, wholesale, vendor relationships, international expansion, and other growth and new business initiatives.

Lee Wright, CEO, The Vitamin Shoppe, said that the addition of Burris is a unique opportunity to enlist a strategic advisor with talents and perspectives that are tremendously relevant to The Vitamin Shoppe’s future growth initiatives.

“There are many complementary overlaps in my experience across specialty retail and the supplement industry with The Vitamin Shoppe’s ongoing growth strategy,” said Burris. “Lee [Wright] and I have known each other for some time and when he became CEO of The Vitamin Shoppe, we started a conversation about the value I could bring to this advisory role. I’ve long admired the way The Vitamin Shoppe has been able to innovate and create a unique retail experience in the health and wellness sector, so this was an ideal opportunity to bring my passion, knowledge, and expertise within this industry to a compelling new role.”

Burris told NutraIngredients-USA that he looks forward to supporting the teams at The Vitamin Shoppe with advice and counsel in key areas of their growth plans.

“The Vitamin Shoppe has been a leader in creating a trusted brand, built on industry-leading quality, innovation, and expertise. That all starts with the specialty store experience and its highly knowledgeable Health Enthusiast associates, who deliver personalized guidance and customer service to everyone who walks through their doors. Adding to that customer experience is exceptional merchandising and marketing, operational excellence, store growth via franchising, and new business opportunities in wholesale and partnerships, to name a few areas where I aim to add value.”

Prior to GNC, Burris was President of AM Retail Group, a wholly owned subsidiary of G-III Apparel Group, which operated retail stores under the Wilsons Leather, G.H. Bass & Co., Calvin Klein Performance, Karl Lagerfeld Paris, DKNY, and Vilebrequin brands. Earlier in his career, Burris spent 16 years at Abercrombie & Fitch in positions of increasing responsibility, including Senior Director, Stores and Operations, where he helped oversee a high-profile international expansion and flagship store openings in New York, London, Milan, and Tokyo, among other cities.