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The Body Shop

159 replies

thursdaygrumbles · 10/02/2024 11:51

Reading the news today, the body shop was bought recently. They’ve just announced that it’s gone into administration.

What the hell, is this a tax dodge, asset stripping or something else?

every company has to do it’s due diligence, the financial position would have been very clear, banks would have to sign off on it.

It just sounds so dodgy, can anyone enlighten me on why they would have done this so soon after buying it

OP posts:
hurlyburlygirly · 10/02/2024 20:06

Oh no. I actually shop in there a lot. I may not have done if I'd appreciated the jk thing tbh. I must have been under a rock.

I like their body scrubs, shampoo, conditioner and shower gel. I nearly got some fragrance oil the other day but it was insanely expensive (as in twice the cost of white company)

The make up had gone a bit odd.

whenindoubtgotothelibrary · 10/02/2024 20:16

I would say I boycotted it over JKR, but to be honest I hadn't really used it much since I was a student in the 80s, so the boycott wasn't too difficult. Hard to see who their target market is these days.

OolongTeaDrinker · 10/02/2024 20:17

NewOwnersSuck · 10/02/2024 19:56

I work for them.
The first I heard of this was on the news this morning.
All those remote community growers and suppliers around the world that the company has supported for decades. We funded schools being built, for gods sake, and now we fucked it all up.

So sorry that must have been a real shock. The Body Shop were doing such good things around the world for a long time. Why they thought it was a good idea to alienate their core market by wading into the trans issue is beyond me. A real Gerald Ratner moment.

GlomOfNit · 10/02/2024 20:24

Mummyoflittledragon · 10/02/2024 14:41

Good riddance to bad rubbish unfortunately. I used to love the body shop in the 80s/90s and worked there for a few years as a student. It was a really prestigious job in those days and paid a tidy sum. The product information book was a massive ‘bible’ and people came in for advice on skin and scalp complaints etc. I worked there when the Mama Toto line was launched.

I also loved making up the baskets for girlfriends and wives. I would take the men round the shop and talk through the products. It’s was especially wonderful when they spent a lot and would let me choose a whole bunch of goodies and I made sure they were well and truly pampered.🥰

In those days we also had to make up all gift baskets from scratch, curling ribbon, adding flowers etc. They were far more special than the generic crap of today.

Ahh, you've just triggered a lovely memory of receiving one of these - a VERY posh birthday present from a schoolfriend at my party - a little basket with small bottles of bath oil, and those whale-shaped bath pearls, and shampoo - everything was green I think, including the curling ribbon and the shredded paper.

Body Shop in the 80's was magic. Even into the 90's I'd go and get some Fuzzy Peach perfume Grin though after I used it to deodorise a youth hostel room on an undergrad field trip after I'd had a run-in with the Bacardi, I went off it. Young girls at school could afford to buy a handful of bath pearls or a bottle of bubble bath with their pocket money. The product is crap now and massively inflated.

And what IS it with the hard selling in these places? You can't just walk into a Lush, Body Shop, L'Occitane to have a look - you get jumped on immediately. You don't get that in a clothes shop or Waterstones.

NewOwnersSuck · 10/02/2024 20:24

Yes it was. I remember the morning after, expecting an email to say "oh no, we messed up...." but instead we were told it was deliberated on and signed off and that we were in the right.😟

greengreengrass25 · 10/02/2024 20:30

I loved the Banana conditioner and almond handcream

I haven't bought anything in there for years

08557lemon555 · 10/02/2024 20:33

They got way too expensive. Nobody would give a shit about JKR.

greengreengrass25 · 10/02/2024 20:36

Yes in the 80s it was very affordable

Peppermint foot lotion, elderflower eye gel, pineapple face wash, cucumber cleanser that stung my skin

Even my df bought stuff there and it was refillable which was good

Appalonia · 10/02/2024 20:50

I used to love Bodyshop back in the day. They used to do this amazing peanut butter face mask, don't think they've done it for years now. They also had a Beech lip liner that I bought for years. That's gone now too. Such a shame, they did have some really good products but agree, they lost their way, too expensive, and the JKR thing was appalling. Shops that forget who their customer base is deserve to go under. Still feel a bit sad though, it's just one more nail in the coffin of the high street.

GellerYeller · 10/02/2024 21:05

The Beech lipliner was brilliant @Appalonia. I loved the old Body Shop, with its small products at pocket money prices, a go-to for Christmas and birthday gifts.

I loved the Passion Fruit Cleansing Gel, Shea, Brazil nut ranges, the perfume oils and the kiwi lip balm.
I’ve thought for some time they could go online only or into other stores like Boots or M and S.
I popped in for some Hemp hand cream as nothing compares IMHO, and I usually get 2. I’m sure it wasn’t £16 a pop last time. Shame it’s lost it’s way and sorry for the staff.

AlwaysGinPlease · 10/02/2024 21:06

08557lemon555 · 10/02/2024 20:33

They got way too expensive. Nobody would give a shit about JKR.

Ah but they did. We also objected to being called " menstruators" by them. They went with the men can become women nonsense and look where it got them.

Mythnames · 10/02/2024 21:19

@GellerYeller id forgotten about kiwi lip balm…that was literally the smell of my 90’s childhood. And the satsuma shower gel

saturnspinkhoop · 10/02/2024 21:27

I loved the satsuma shower gel. I tried it again a few years ago and it just didn’t smell of much.

ani4ani · 10/02/2024 21:37

They stopped all their lovely scents. I loved dewberry, spirit of moonflower Oceania (or something similar). I'd still go in now and again, and sometimes find an okay scent, but then they seemed to struggle with the concept of sex and at that point I was out. It was always a slightly 'right on' shop, but then it got so 'right on' is was just 🤮.

Whatineed · 10/02/2024 21:37

08557lemon555 · 10/02/2024 20:33

They got way too expensive. Nobody would give a shit about JKR.

And yet the thread is full of women saying they do..

Prizefighter · 10/02/2024 21:43

Yeah come for JK Rowling and you’d best not miss.

Lush next.

oakleaffy · 10/02/2024 22:03

NewOwnersSuck · 10/02/2024 19:56

I work for them.
The first I heard of this was on the news this morning.
All those remote community growers and suppliers around the world that the company has supported for decades. We funded schools being built, for gods sake, and now we fucked it all up.

I worked many years ago with a colleague who remembers the very first 'Body Shop'..I think in Brighton?
It was all reusable bottles back then, and the shops smelled like blueberries.

The old Hemp Handcream was great, the non vegan one.. I'm guessing that the Vegan one is not as good, judging by old stock selling for more on Ebay!
WHY mess with formulas that work?

It's nuts.

Such a shame that the small farmers won't be supported.

Panterus · 10/02/2024 22:05

Used to use them a lot for Xmas and birthday presents.

Not once since the JKR thing.

Lots of women give a shit about standing alongside JKR. Incredibly brave woman that she is.

oakleaffy · 10/02/2024 22:11

Well...Won't be buying the vegan friendly version of the hemp hand cream...it's supposedly awful.

The Body Shop
PieAndLattes · 10/02/2024 22:24

It was never right after Anita Roddick was no longer involved. It got too expensive for what it was. And lovely new beauty brands started popping up on the high street - L’Occitane, Molton Brown, Rituals, etc. If I wanted to spend £15 on a hand cream why would I buy a Body Shop one?

GellerYeller · 10/02/2024 22:29

Oh dear… can someone recommend a hand cream that compares? I always found that Hemp was the only one that sank in, and truly felt it made a noticeable difference. Lovely smooth moisturised hands(and feet!) in just a couple of applications. I was even prepared to forgive the smell of it!

oakleaffy · 10/02/2024 22:31

GellerYeller · 10/02/2024 22:29

Oh dear… can someone recommend a hand cream that compares? I always found that Hemp was the only one that sank in, and truly felt it made a noticeable difference. Lovely smooth moisturised hands(and feet!) in just a couple of applications. I was even prepared to forgive the smell of it!

I've just been googling...I'm like you..I found the old Hemp one was fantastic. Been buying it for many years.
Can anyone else recommend a rich one that isn't 'watery' and that actually works like the old one did?

MountainBarbie · 10/02/2024 22:35

Stopped using mine before the JKR stuff as I couldn't stand the way they made heir poor staff follow you round the shop trying to sell you products, it's one thing I really hate as I'm quite shy anyway. That and giving my email everytime I go through a checkout.

PleasePleaseTellMeNow · 10/02/2024 22:40

I was a loyal customer since they first opened but boycotted after they attacked JKR. It was a pain as I loved their stuff but - principles. Happy to hear they're sinking.

judgementfail · 10/02/2024 22:49

I popped in while recently back in the UK and it was fucking dire and crazy expensive

I think if they'd gone back to their original lines people would have been queuing. Strawberry shower gel. Passion fruit cleaning gel. Japanese washing grains. Banana conditioner. Ive blue shampoo. Peppermint foot lotion. White musk perfume oil. Cucumber toner. Orchid oil cleanser.