It was a star brand, becoming a world leader in the natural cosmetics niche. The court placed the brand under observation for six months, the time to carry out a diagnosis of the company and prepare a recovery or liquidation plan.
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The Body Shop France is in a situation of cessation of payments, the brand was placed in receivership on Thursday April 4 by the Paris Commercial Court. Lhe cosmetics brand is paying for the poor health of its parent company, which is English. The brand’s global sales have collapsed, in particular because of Covid. However, since the end of the health crisis, the beauty market has been dynamic, but The Body Shop is suffering from its low reputation among new generations. In fact, it is known to fifty-somethings, but not to teenagers or young people.
Created in the 1970s, under the leadership of businesswoman Anita Roddick, The Body Shop very early on positioned itself as a committed and ethical brand. She was one of the first to denounce animal testing and to highlight the plant-based composition of her products. Some of its creams, such as body butter, have even become best-sellers. And The Body Shop has become a world leader in the natural cosmetics niche.
In its heyday, in the 90s, the brand had more than 2,000 stores in around fifty countries. It was on the rise to the point of being bought by the giant L’Oréal. But little by little, The Body Shop was overtaken in this area of plant-based beauty. In France, of course, there has always been its rival Yves Rocher, but little by little, The Body Shop also saw the arrival of Lush and Avril. L’Oréal tried to invest in the brand, but nothing happened and as a result, in 2017, L’Oréal sold it to a Brazilian group Natura&Co, which resold it to a fund of investment.
Around sixty stores and 260 employees in France
Employees are worried, even if they are not surprised. Because they saw clearly that all these changes of hands did not bode well, that sales were falling and that there was little investment. In France, The Body Shop still has 66 stores which employ 260 people. The employees therefore find themselves waiting, the court has placed the brand under observation for six months, the time to carry out a diagnosis of the company and prepare a recovery or liquidation plan. So she has until next fall.