Vitamin Shoppe Industries (VSI) helps its customers meet their minimum daily requirements. The company sells vitamins, supplements, and minerals, in addition to herbal, homeopathic, and personal care products, through about 140 The Vitamin Shoppe stores (most along the Eastern Seaboard), its monthly catalog, and VitaminShoppe.com. The company is fortifying its store base with plans to have 500 stores in five years. VSI offers some 25,000 items from 350-plus national brands, plus its own private-label products. The company spun off VitaminShoppe.com in 1999 but bought it back in 2001. Founded in 1977 as a corner shop in New York City, VSI was sold to the private equity group at Bear, Stearns & Company in 2002.