Nutrisystem gearing for national retail launch

FORT WASHINGTON, Pa. — Nutrisystem will make a national retail launch in 2014, noted Dawn Zier, Nutrisystem president and CEO, during a conference call Wednesday. The company already has distribution through 2,500 Walmart locations and will be introducing its weight loss kits into Target in the second quarter. 

"We successfully launched and tapped into 2,500 Wal-Mart stores for diet season 2014 and both the diet and diabetic kit as well as the shakes and snack pack continues to perform well," Zier said. "Channel expansion will be focused on mass and club with a test line approach before expanding nationally. Our first test is with Target in Q2," she said. "We are adding additional resources to our retail team to support our growth strategy."

Retail contributed $5.9 million in the quarter, representing 8.4% of total revenues. The company expects a $25 million from the retail channel in the next fiscal year.