The Body Shop, a UK-based cosmetics company, has shut down all of its operations in the US and will soon close dozens of stores in Canada after filing for bankruptcy, reported CNN. The company had earlier announced in an official release that its US subsidiary will no longer be operational as of March 1.
The company added that 33 of its 105 stores in Canada will start liquidation sales immediately, and “online sales via Canada’s e-commerce store will stop”. However, its stores in Canada will remain open for the time being. Traditional retailers, which mainly operated out of malls and were aimed at the middle class, especially those like The Body Shop, got affected by high inflation in recent years, according to reports.
The Body Shop, a company known for its natural, sustainable, ethical and cruelty-free products, was founded in 1976 by human rights activist and environmental campaigner Anita Roddick. It was one of the first companies to prohibit testing on animals for many of its products, CNN reported.
Moreover, the company was sold to asset management group Aurelius for about $266 million towards the end of 2023, according to CNN.
The brand has been handled by different owners over the years. It was bought by the cosmetics company L’Oreal for more than a billion dollars. It was later owned by the Brazilian company Natura in 2017 for over a billion dollars.
In an early 2023 report, Natura noted that The Body Shop was facing headwinds with a year-over-year decline of 13.5% in 2022, which the company claimed was far from easy for the cosmetics brand. Natura highlighted that The Body Shop’s direct-to-consumers channels returned to more normalised pre-pandemic levels, impacting sales numbers, after it benefited during Covid-19.
In addition, the brand was sold to asset management group Aurelius for about $266 million towards the end of last year, as reported by CNN.
