The Body Shop Belgium has almost twenty branches and, like the 27 Dutch stores, legally falls under the Dutch business unit The Body Shop Benelux. That is why a Dutch curator must settle the bankruptcy.
Fallen domino
With the bankruptcy of The Body Shop Belgium, another domino falls. The retail group has 900 company-owned stores worldwide and another 1,600 franchise locations. These are stores owned by independent entrepreneurs.
The Body Shop sells sustainable creams, shampoos, soaps and other care products and was a success story for decades (see box below). The retail chain has run into problems in recent years. Earlier this month, the British and German parts already filed for bankruptcy.
Shops closed
The Body Shop’s European online stores also went offline. And according to articles in the Belgian press the majority of stores in Belgium closed their doors last week.
This now appears to be followed by the bankruptcy of The Body Shop Belgium. The bankruptcy was declared yesterday by the Central Netherlands court.
Harbinger
It is not yet known whether this is a harbinger of the bankruptcy of the rest of The Body Shop Benelux, including the 30 Dutch stores. Curator Alice van der Schee was not yet available this morning for an explanation.
The Dutch shops are still open. The retail company employs approximately 150 people in the Netherlands.
Body Shop in notendop
The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by sustainable entrepreneur Anita Roddick. In 2006 she sold the then successful retail chain to the French cosmetics giant L’Oreal. Eleven years later, the company came into the hands of the Brazilian Natura Cosmeticos.
Among Brazilians, The Body Shop returned to its roots, with a lot of attention to sustainability and political positions. But this did not return the success of the first decades.
At the end of last year, Natura sold the retail chain to the German investor Aurelius for a bargain. He initially promised to breathe new life into The Body Shop. In reality, the Germans were rapidly heading for a tough restructuring.
2024-02-28 11:36:26
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