The Body Shop brand is transferred to management in France

For several weeks now, sales staff at The Body Shop in France have been going about their daily routine. “We don’t know, we’re waiting,” one of them said in a Paris store a few days ago. This Thursday, April 4, the Paris Commercial Court ordered the French subsidiary of the British brand to be placed into receivership for a six-month observation period, we were told by concurring sources confirming BFM’s information. Therefore, the procedure should allow jobs to be maintained during this period, time for the company to diagnose itself before deciding on a possible plan to continue operating.

What is at stake, then, is the survival on French soil of the iconic beauty brand, treasured by generations of young women, with its 59 stores, 7 franchisees and approximately 260 employees. France has not escaped the turmoil that has engulfed the entire group since its takeover last November by German investment fund Aurelius, which was called into question several years ago over the management of Office Dépôt., which is in forced liquidation in 2021.

“We are starting to run out of some food.”

The Body Shop, which then employed about 7,000 people worldwide, has been owned by Brazil’s Natura since 2017. In February, the parent company filed for bankruptcy in the UK, where it had to close half of its stores. Since then, other subsidiaries in Europe (particularly in Germany and Belgium) have also been affected.

Since mid-February, deliveries to stores in France have been suspended and we have had to draw on stock to supply customers. “We are starting to run out of some products,” a saleswoman said a few days ago, hoping for “supplies to resume in April.” Because the French company no longer had financial support from the parent company, it was unable to pay salaries for March, which were covered by the AGS (wage guarantee scheme). However, Body Shop France should be able to pay salaries for April.

The Body Shop brand was founded in 1976 by British woman Anita Roddick, known for achieving a ban on testing cosmetics on animals in many countries. After being taken over by L’Oréal in 2006, the group had to face stiff competition from a plethora of beauty brands claiming natural and organic products.