SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA · FY1991–PRESENT · CALIFORNIA
General Nutrition Center franchise in California: what the public record shows
Franchisees of General Nutrition Center in California have taken 21 SBA loans since 1991 (average $184,038), and of the 18 loans whose story has ended, 16.7% were charged off — versus 12.4% for General Nutrition Center nationally and 14.8% across all rateable franchise brands.
Loans in CA
21
Resolved
18
Local charge-off
16.7%
National charge-off
12.4%
Source: SBA 7(a)/504 FOIA files (data.sba.gov), borrower state = CA. Charge-off rate = charged-off ÷ (charged-off + paid-in-full); open loans excluded. A local rate is published only when the resolved cohort clears our floor.
Businesses in this industry
5,553
statewide, all operators
Per 100k residents
14.1
national 11.6
Versus the country
+22%
denser
Every business in General Nutrition Center's industry operating in California — franchised and independent — from the Census Bureau's County Business Patterns (2023), against 2024 population estimates. Counter-intuitively, density is not a warning: across 198 brand-state cells in our loan data, the densest quartile charges off at 5.6% versus 18.1% in the thinnest. A crowded market is usually proven demand; an empty one is often empty for a reason.
| System | Loans in CA | Local charge-off | Units in CA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gameday Men's Health | 27 | thin | — |
| AFC/AMERICAN FAMILY CARE | 20 | thin | 19 |
| HEALTH MART | 17 | thin | 461 |
| Medicine Shoppe | 14 | thin | — |
| MASSAGE HEIGHTS | 12 | thin | — |
| Max Muscle | 11 | 50.0% | — |
| Armstrong Mccall | 8 | thin | — |
| THE JOINT CHIROPRACTIC (RD) | 8 | thin | — |
| The Joint...the chiropractic place | 7 | thin | 33 |
| Pearle Vision Center | 6 | thin | — |
| Arcpoint | 5 | thin | — |
| Doctors Express | 5 | thin | — |
Same sector, same state, same public records — how General Nutrition Center compares to the systems a buyer in California would actually be choosing between. Local rates under 10 resolved loans are marked thin, not hidden.
A broker is paid by the franchisor to place you. An independent CPA is paid by you — and the job is pressure-testing General Nutrition Center's numbers, including talking you out of a bad deal.
Talk to an independent CPA before you buy →