There once existed a magical place named The Body Shop.
Piles of vibrant soaps, jars filled with sparkling bath pearls, rows upon rows of fascinating lotions, and, on a Saturday, groups of youngsters smothering themselves with White Musk eau de toilette testers could all be found there.
The Body Shop was a Willy Wonka-like delight for kids in the 1980s and 90s.
Diane Wehrle, chief executive of Rendle Intelligence and Insights and an expert in retail, recalled, “The Body Shop was the brand when we were young.”
“But for younger people, it is now the brand of their mum.”
Today’s Body Shop is experiencing a cause of concern. In seven years, the business’s third owner has made the bold choice to put the UK division into administration.
UK body shop jobs in jeopardy as firm struggles to survive
It is a bit early to tell what this means for The Body Shop’s 200 UK locations at this point, but it is safe to anticipate that many will have to close in order to save expenses, which will result in job losses.
It is believed that Aurelius, the private equity firm that paid £207 million in November to acquire The Body Shop, decided as a result of the store’s dismal sales that continued into January during the crucial Christmas shopping season.
Additionally, it’s thought that The Body Shop’s working capital was not as stable as first supposed.
On the other hand, others might contend that this was long overdue.
The Body Shop was formerly at the forefront of promoting ethical trade and cruelty-free cosmetics, but it seems that competitors in the natural and clean beauty market, like Lush and Neal’s Yard Remedies, have advanced.
What has gone wrong?
Dame Anita Roddick, the Body Shop’s “soul”
Retail advisor Mary Portas stated, “It got bought out by L’Oreal,” alluding to the 2006 transaction in which Dame Anita Roddick and her husband Gordon sold The Body Shop to the French cosmetics and beauty conglomerate for a sum exceeding £650 million.
“L’Oreal knows how to use brands,” she stated. “It did not know how to run a retailer and so the soul went out of it.”
Ms. Portas stated that Dame Anita was the soul in The Body Shop’s instance.
In 1976, she opened her first store in Brighton, inspired by natural products she saw while travelling abroad, like cocoa butter.
Meanwhile, Dame Anita unintentionally started the trend of consumers returning empty containers to be filled in-store. She used to say, “We recycled everything.” “Not because we were environmentally friendly but because we didn’t have enough bottles.”
The Body Shop, which had started for just £4,000, had become immensely successful by 1984 and had launched its shares on the London Stock Exchange, valuing the company at £80 million.
“It was a mecca for joy and everything she stood for was what business should be today,” stated Ms Portas. “[Dame Anita] talked about business being a force for good and making progress and having an effect in the world.”
Before Dame Anita sold the company to L’Oreal, a massive player in the beauty industry that some saw as the complete opposite of The Body Shop’s mission.
After the sale, Dame Anita and her husband made about £130 million, and she promised to donate the proceeds. She passed away the next year at the young age of 65.
After over a decade, L’Oreal decided to sell The Body Shop to Natura of Brazil for a sum of £880 million. When November 2023 rolled around, Natura sold it to Aurelia for a little portion of what it had originally paid for it.
Rivals with their own natural brands were sprouting as The Body Shop was being passed around between several owners.
Ms. Wehrle believes that: “I think that in the last 20 years, a lot of new players have entered the sustainable and natural space that The Body Shop used to hold exclusively.
“The Body Shop itself hasn’t really evolved its concepts but all its competitors have come up behind it and not only have the advantage of sustainability but some also have really beautiful branding,” she stated. “The Body Shop hasn’t actually deteriorated but it hasn’t moved.”
These days, even entering a Body Shop is not the same sensory experience as it used to be. Ms Portas recalls: “The smell was a joy – that vanilla scent that wafted as you opened the doors to The Body Shop.”
Now compare that to the vivid displays of Lush’s bath bombs, which are adored by the TikTok youth, and the scent punch of a Lush store. Or Rituals provides a “beautiful shopping environment with a whole host of scents and smells,” according to Ms. Wehrle. Younger consumers are also reached by the business through the usage of internet influencers.
Concurrently, natural and ecological beauty lines are now available at Boots and grocery chains.
The Body Shop is not expected to go away entirely. It might continue operating out of a few UK stores and take advantage of this to make investments in the company’s internet division.
There is little doubt that millions of people like The Body Shop. However, Ms. Wehrle stated: “Really, we’re hankering after retailing from 20 years ago when there was no choice.
Final thoughts
There are a plethora of possibilities available, and each party is accountable for them. In the end, it is the retailer’s responsibility to transform it into a modern, indispensable brand—a mission they have so far been unable to achieve.
(Tashia Bernardus)