A new East Lansing store will soon be here to pump you up.
A General Nutrition Center is scheduled to open June 9 at 217 E. Grand River Ave., where the MSU Bootery used to sit.
Bob Metzger, owner of Metzger Realty Co., 541 E. Grand River Ave., and landlord of the building, said GNC is exactly the type of small tenant he was looking for.
“We had a real estate agent who said he felt they would be a good mix for the downtown,” he said. “A lot of people use their vitamins and supplements.”
Metzger said although the store will most likely be in competition with the CVS pharmacy going into the City Center Project, he is optimistic the GNC will do well.
The City Center Project is a $30 million dollar revitalization of downtown East Lansing.
“A lot of the students are into the health thing - right down the street you have a gym,” he said. “And GNC carries all those things, like Ginkgo (biloba), that old people want to retain their memory.
“I think it will be accepted by the community and students.”
Jim van Ravensway, East Lansing director of planning and community development, said the GNC is a good fit for a college town.
“The younger generation is into health supplements and here is a huge town full of young people,” he said. “I think it is targeting itself to a younger crowd.”
And communication junior Timothy Beard is just the type of student GNC wants to target.
Beard said he usually shops at the GNC in Hannah Plaza, on Hagadorn Road, for protein supplements and creatine - an energy supplement - but would definitely shop at the downtown GNC.
“It’s within walking distance to my house and is more convenient,” he said.
Tom LeBlanc, leasing and sales marketing manager at DTN Management Co., which leased the building, said two years ago a GNC had almost moved in two doors down from its new location, but GNC was at the limit of the number of stores it could have.
“When it became known that the Bootery was leaving, the first thing I did was call GNC,” he said. “They were interested in doing these sorts of locations of college towns.”
Randy Ellingsworth, divisional sales director for GNC, said East Lansing was a good place for the store to expand its brand name.
He also said the store layout will be similar to other GNCs in the area.
Metzger also hopes to make the area behind the GNC into a small park for families.
“We want to take the area behind there and put in benches,” he said. “People with children can walk and push carriages.”
He also said unlike the MSU Bootery, the back entrance to the store will be open to customers.
“We insisted they open their back door,” he said. “It doesn’t make sense to have a big parking lot and make people walk around to your front door.”
