A few days after The Body Shop closed its doors in the United Kingdom, problems also surfaced in our country. In Antwerp, the cosmetics chain’s branch on the Meir remains closed, and the webshop is also inaccessible.
More than 2,000 jobs in the UK are at risk after The Body Shop filed for bankruptcy earlier this week. The consultancy firm FRP was appointed to manage the bankruptcy and restructuring of the UK operations. The aim is to “breathe new life into this iconic brand,” it said in a press release on Tuesday.
The procedure would only affect the British operations, and not the rest of the global network. Yet there are also problems in our country. Customers stood in front of a closed door on the Antwerp Meir on Saturday. There is a piece of paper stating that The Body Shop is “exceptionally closed today”. The Belgian webshop is also currently unavailable. The website mentions a “planned interruption”.
At the end of last year, the Brazilian Natura Cosmeticos sold the company to the German investment fund Aurelius for 243 million euros. Brazilians still paid 1 billion in 2017. They bought the chain from the French cosmetics giant L’Oréal at the time.
The Body Shop was founded in England in 1976 and is now active in 89 countries. Founder Anita Roddick, an animal rights activist, started with a small shop in Brighton. The chain became popular because it sold cosmetics and other products that were not tested on animals.
