For weeks now, the salespeople at The Body Shop stores in France have been living day to day. “We don’t know, we’re waiting,” said one of them, in a Parisian store, a few days ago. This Thursday, April 4, the Paris commercial court ordered the placement in receivership of the French subsidiary of the British brand, with an observation period of six months, we learned from concordant sources, confirming a information from BFM. The procedure must therefore make it possible to maintain jobs over this period, the time to establish a diagnosis of the company, before deciding on a possible continuation plan.
At stake, therefore, is the survival on French soil of an iconic brand of beauty products, prized by generations of young women, with its 59 stores and 7 franchisees, and some 260 employees. France has not escaped the turmoil that has hit the entire group since its takeover last November by the German investment fund Aurelius - called into question a few years ago for its management of the company Office Dépôt. , placed in compulsory liquidation in 2021.
“We are starting to run out of certain products”
The Body Shop, which then employed around 7,000 people worldwide, has belonged to the Brazilian Natura since 2017. In February, the parent company filed for bankruptcy in Great Britain, where half of the stores had to close. Other subsidiaries have since been affected in Europe (in Germany and Belgium in particular).
Since mid-February, supplies to stores in France have been suspended, and we have had to draw on stocks to supply customers. “We are starting to run out of certain products,” said a saleswoman a few days ago, hoping for a “resumption of deliveries in April”. As the French company no longer had the financial support of the parent company, it was not able to pay salaries for the month of March, which were covered by the AGS (salary guarantee scheme). The Body Shop France should, however, be able to pay April payrolls.
The Body Shop brand was founded in 1976 by the British Anita Roddick, known for having obtained a ban on cosmetic testing on animals in many countries. Having fallen into the hands of L'Oréal in 2006, the group had to face fierce competition from a multitude of cosmetic brands claiming natural and organic products.