The Body Shop files for bankruptcy, closes all of its US locations, and closes its Canadian stores

According to a CNN story, the UK-based cosmetics giant The Body Shop has closed all of its US-based operations and is set to close dozens of its Canadian shop locations as it files for bankruptcy.

The Body Shop announced earlier this month that, as of March 1, its US business will no longer be in operation.

Additionally, the firm said that “online sales via Canada’s e-commerce store will stop” and that 33 of its 105 Canadian locations would immediately start liquidation discounts. However, all Canadian outlets would be open for business as usual, CNN reported.

According to the survey, conventional merchants have been negatively impacted by recent high inflation, especially The Body Shop and other businesses that cater mostly to the middle class and operate out of malls.

Anita Roddick, an environmentalist and human rights activist, established The Body Shop in the United Kingdom in 1976. It was among the first businesses to forbid animal testing for a number of its goods.

It received certification as a “B Corp” in 2019, a distinction granted to businesses that satisfy strict requirements for environmental responsibility and transparency.

It was available for purchase online in more than 60 markets and has grown to over 2,500 retail locations in more than 80 nations by 2023.

The Body Shop has seen many ownership changes since its founding. According to the CNN article, it was bought by the massive cosmetics firm L’Oréal in 2006 for more than a billion dollars, and it was then sold to the Brazilian company Natura in 2017 for an additional billion dollars.

The company’s brand has not been doing well lately. The Body Shop was “(facing) headwinds,” according to a report published by Natura in early 2023, after a 13.5 percent year-over-year loss in 2022—a year the firm described as “far from easy” for the brand. According to Natura, the company’s direct-to-consumer channels, which had “benefited during Covid,” have now reverted to “more normalized pre-pandemic levels,” which has further impacted sales figures.

Furthermore, according to the CNN article, The Body Shop was sold to asset management company Aurelius for around $266 million at the end of last year.