many GNC's are pivately owned(franchises) They are usually found in smaller strip malls and their prices are not as good as the ones in the bigger malls which more often than not are competition stores(because of the proximity of competitors) where the sports stuff is always 20 percent off,twinlad,eas,muscletech(not counting the gold card)all gnc's dont have the same prices,,so when u walk in just ask the guy or girl that works there if that particualar store is a competitoin store...in terms of quality most manufactures get their stuff from an independent sub contraced labs(champion nutrition makes alot of stuff for differnt compnaies),so more often than not the creatine in the EAS,GNC or Muscletech brands came from the same production facility