The Body Shop has filed for bankruptcy in the US and has shuttered all of its US based operations. The company will also be shutting its Canadian operations. In an official statement earlier this month, the firm had announced that its US subsidiary was no longer operational, effective March 1. The firm said 33 of its 105 stores in Canada will begin liquidation sales immediately, and “online sales via Canada’s e-commerce store will stop”. However, it said that all Canadian locations will remain open for the time being, reported CNN.
The Body Shop, which was established in 1976 by Anita Roddick, a human rights activist and an environmental campaigner. According to a CNN report, The Body Shop was purchased by cosmetics giant L’Oreal in 2006 for more than a billion dollars but later sold to Brazilian company Natura in 2017 for another billion dollars.
In February 2024, The Body Shop’s UK business had fallen into administration, putting more than 2,000 jobs and 200 stores at risk. The retailer, owned by private equity firm Aurelius, appointed administrators at FRP Advisory on Tuesday. It said the move was the best way of securing the brand’s future. Aurelius agreed to buy The Body Shop late last year in a deal that valued the retailer at £207 million ($262 million).
Aurelius, which also owns sportswear chain Footasylum and Lloyds Pharmacy, bought The Body Shop from Brazilian cosmetics conglomerate Natura & Co., which had owned the brand since buying it from L’Oreal in 2017. The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by animal rights activist Anita Roddick, beginning with a small store in Brighton, on England’s south coast. It became popular for selling cosmetics and hygiene products that were not tested on animals.
At the time, The Body Shop India had clarified that the recent announcement on plans to restructure the UK business will not have an impact on the India business and all its stores in India will operate as usual. Quest Retail runs the India operations of the brand as franchise partner. This administration process relates to The Body Shop UK business only and does not impact the Global Head Franchise Partners.