The Vitamin Shoppe

The Vitamin Shoppe is a vitamin store based out of North Bergen, New Jersey that sells nutritional supplements at more than 400 locations in 37 states, according to wikipedia.

The vitamin shop, a leading provider of dietary supplements in the U.S. provides about 8,000 brands of health products through its retail stores and more than 20,000 different brands of health supplements through its online retail websites, the free online encyclopedia says.

The Vitamin Shoppe was founded in 1977 and was sold to an affiliate of Bear Stearns Merchant Banking for about $310 million.

The company carries both its own brands of nutrtional supplements such as Vitamin Shoppe's MD Select and the Bodytech brand of sports supplements and third party diet supplements.

On Jan. 26, 2008, Wikipedia reported that independent laboratory Consumer Labs detected 15.3 micrograms of lead per daily serving in Vitamin Shoppe's "Especially for Women" multivitamin. In response, the company withdrew the product, but CEO Tom Tolworthy denied that was any evidence showing the vitamins were contaminated and claimed that its vitamins were manufactured in accordance with good practices.

The products carried by the Vitamin Shoppe are intended for many health benefits that could help aging, allergy, bone health, brain and memory, detoxification, cardiovascular health, digestive system, vision, blood sugar or diabetes, immunity, intimacy, mood, stress and weight loss management, male reproductive system, respiratory system and many others.

On its website at www.vitaminshoppe.com, the company sells more than vitamins and minerals. In addition to vitamins A, B, C, D, E, multivitamins indicated fro adults, children, women, prenatal and minerals such as iron, zinc, calcium, and magnesium, it also sells dietary supplements such as Omega-3, fish oil, flax acidophilus, probiotics, amino acids, antioxidants, CoQ-10, Ubiquinol enzymes and chondrointin protein among others.

The Vitamin Shoppe says on its website that it offers over 20,000 health supplements from over 400 name brands. It claims that "The Vitamin Shoppe is the first and only choice for people seeking to fulfill their health and wellness needs."

The privately held vitamin shop is arguably a leading retailer in the diet supplements market. However, the competition is strong from other competitors such as vitacost.com, a public company that offers over 20,000 nutrition supplements from about 800 third party brands.

Consumers need to know that the prices for the same health product offered by the two company can be very different. For instance, at vitacost.com, Carlson Vitamin D Baby Drops (400 IU-11 ml) is now sold for $9.83 and the same product is sold at Vitaminshoppe.com for $18.99.

The Vitamin Shoppe locations can be checked here http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/content/en/stores/index.jsp?intsource=header&tab_selection=vitamins. to shop the Vitamin Shoppe online, go to www.vitaminshoppe.com.