Franchise financing
Financing a General Nutrition Centers franchise
SBA lenders have approved 36 loans against the General Nutrition Centers brand since FY2010, totalling $9.8M. The median approval was $209,000. These are loans that actually closed - not projections from a disclosure document.
Rank by loan count
#627
of 1,651 brands
Loans approved
36
FY2010 onward
Median loan
$209,000
Typical range
$50K-$526K
Middle 80% of loans
Median term
7.3 yr
Charge-off rate
0.0%
27 resolved FY10-19 loans
Source: U.S. Small Business Administration, SBA 7(a) and 504 FOIA data, as of 2026-06-30. Approvals from FY2010 onward. How we calculate this.
Lenders
Who financed General Nutrition Centers
| Lender | Loans | Approved | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Community State Bank | 1 | $1.6M | |
| East West Bank | 2 | $1.2M | |
| Fifth Third Bank | 3 | $941K | |
| Wells Fargo Bank | 3 | $823K | |
| Bank of America | 1 | $526K | |
| Three Rivers Federal Credit Union | 1 | $490K | |
| Nicolet National Bank | 2 | $462K | |
| KeyBank | 3 | $411K |
Geography
Where General Nutrition Centers units were financed
| State | Loans | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Texas | 4 | |
| Ohio | 4 | |
| Minnesota | 4 | |
| California | 4 | |
| Utah | 3 | |
| Nebraska | 3 | |
| North Carolina | 2 | |
| Pennsylvania | 2 |
Approvals by fiscal year
Loan count by fiscal year - a rough proxy for how fast the brand was opening units. Final bar is a partial year.
Loan sizes
- Under $50K11%
- $50K - $150K28%
- $150K - $350K36%
- $350K - $1M22%
- $1M - $2M3%
Financing a General Nutrition Centers: common questions
- How much do lenders finance for a General Nutrition Centers franchise?
- The median SBA loan approved for a General Nutrition Centers franchise is $209,000, with the middle 80% of loans between $50,000 and $525,700. That is the financed portion only - it excludes the buyer's equity injection, which SBA lenders typically require at 10% or more of total project cost for a business acquisition or new franchise unit.
- Which lenders finance General Nutrition Centers franchises?
- By dollars approved, the most active SBA lenders for General Nutrition Centers have been Community State Bank, East West Bank, Fifth Third Bank, Wells Fargo Bank. Many franchise brands also maintain their own lists of preferred lenders, which may differ from who has historically approved the most volume.
- How long are General Nutrition Centers SBA loans?
- The median term is 7.3 yr. SBA 7(a) terms run up to 10 years for working capital and equipment, and up to 25 years when the loan is secured by real estate - so a longer median usually means the loans included property.
- Do General Nutrition Centers SBA loans get charged off often?
- 0.0% of General Nutrition Centers loans approved between FY2010 and FY2019 that have reached a terminal status were charged off, against 7.6% across all SBA lending. Franchise-level charge-off rates reflect the era a brand expanded in as much as the concept itself - brands that grew hardest into the 2010s carry more seasoned, and more resolved, loans.
We are a publisher, not a lender or broker. We never take applications and are never paid by borrowers. Read the full disclosures.