[Update as of 3/12/2024] The Body Shop has closed all its U.S. stores after filing for Chapter 7 liquidation, according to multiple media reports. This type of filing means the retailer will sell off some assets from its U.S. operations to pay creditors.
Original story begins:
The Body Shop Canada has filed a Notice of Intention (NOI) to file for protection under the country’s Bankruptcy and Insolvency Act, following a similar filing by the retailer’s UK arm last month. The Body Shop Canada has ceased online sales, and while its stores remain open, the company plans to close 33 of its 105 locations across the country in the near term.
Additionally, The Body Shop US Limited has “ceased operations” as of March 1, 2024, according to a press release. However, at press time, the retailer’s U.S. site carried a message that it was undergoing planned maintenance but was “due to be back online soon.”
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The Body Shop Canada is commencing the NOI process “to obtain a stay of proceedings to provide additional breathing room while it evaluates its strategic alternatives and implements certain restructuring initiatives,” according to the company release. Alvarez & Marsal Canada has been appointed as the Proposal Trustee for the Canadian NOI.
The Body Shop International had been acquired from Natura &Co for $257.8 million by Aurelius Group in November 2023. The UK division entered administration, the country’s version of bankruptcy, last month, and announced last week that it would be closing 75 of its 116 UK stores over the next four to six weeks.
The retailer, founded by the late Dame Anita Roddick in 1976, began with one shop in Brighton, UK, and it was one of the first companies to use ethically sourced natural ingredients in its products. The company’s history of activism began in 1986 when Roddick teamed with Greenpeace on a Save the Whale campaign and has continued to the present day: in March 2023 The Body Shop added makeup to its refillable products program designed to reduce plastic waste. In January 2024 the retailer’s assortment was certified as 100% vegan.
