The Body Shop will close 33 of its Canadian stores and end online sales, the Canadian subsidiary of the U.K. beauty and cosmetics shop announced. https://t.co/kJhb0yRuSP .
— CBC News (@CBCNews) March 1, 2024
The Body Shop Canada is closing 33 stores, nearly 1/3 of its stores, and ending online sales as it seeks creditor protection. The company will no longer accept gift cards or provide refunds and will consider all sales final (are they allowed to do that?). This comes after The Body Shop International was acquired by a private equity firm and put into administration.
The UK branch of the company has been suffering financial woes too, but the closing of the online shop is a surprise. “It does, honestly, very much surprise me that that type of move would be made in a Canadian market,” said Craig Patterson, the founder and publisher of Retail Insider. “Just not having that web presence, I think, is going to be detrimental to the company in Canada,”
The company was started in 1976 and offered an environmentally friendly ethos, but as other companies such as Lush began to offer similar products, it became harder for them to distinguish themselves. In 2006, the company was sold to L’oreal, which was a blow to the company’s image since L’oreal tests on animals. In 2017, L’oreal sold the company to Brazillian Natura & Co who had hoped to revive the company but have been struggling.
not surprised but this makes me sad 🙁 they used to be such a great company
