A Healthy Portfolio With Healthy Profits

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The market had no problem downing Vitamin Shoppe (NYSE: VSI) last week. Shares of the vitamin retailer that were originally expected to price between $14 and $16 a stub hit the market at $17 a share on Wednesday.

It was still too low. The stock hasn't traded below $17.35 during its first four days as a public company.

Vitamin Shoppe is an intriguing IPO on a couple of different levels. For starters, it's the first bricks-and-mortar retailer to go public since Lumber Liquidators (NYSE: LL) hit the market nearly two years ago.

The chain's successful debut also comes a month after the previous month's lukewarm reception for Web-based competitor Vitacost.com (Nasdaq: VITC). The online retailer of wellness and beauty care products is trading substantially lower than its initial $12-a-share price tag.

Vitamin Shoppe and Vitacost have been growing during the recession, likely explaining why the two vitamin sellers are part of the razor-thin pool of companies that have gone public this year.

Vitamin Shoppe's bottom line is growing faster than its top line. Through the first six months of the year, revenue and earnings are up 12% and 56%, respectively.

The chain is poised to capitalize on cyberspace as well; it runs VitaminShoppe.com and BodyTech.com as direct sales outlets. It also distributes mail-order catalogs. However, it's a bricks-and-mortar concept at its core, with 434 stores and counting throughout the country.

Investor interest bodes well for NBTY (NYSE: NTY) and drugstore.com (Nasdaq: DSCM), vitamin and nutrition specialists that analysts also see growing this year. If the trend toward healthier living is about more than just popping pills, fitness club operators Life Time Fitness (NYSE: LTM) and Town Sports (Nasdaq: CLUB) could also be recipients of investors' largesse.

Could it be as simple as that: The key to a healthier portfolio rests in the companies out to make a healthier you?

Have you bought into any of the IPOs of 2009? Share your thoughts in the comment box below.