The Body Shop
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| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Cosmetics |
| Founded | 26 March 1976 |
| Founder | Anita Roddick |
| Headquarters | Littlehampton, West Sussex, United Kingdom |
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Number of locations
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2605 (2010) |
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Key people
|
Anita Roddick |
| Products | Skin care |
| Parent | L'Oréal (2006–present) |
| Website | www |
The Body Shop International plc, trading as The Body Shop, is a British cosmetics and skin care company owned by L'Oréal. It was founded in 1976 by Dame Anita Roddick and currently has a range of 1,000 products which it sells in 3,000 franchised stores in 66 countries. The company is based in Littlehampton, West Sussex, United Kingdom.
In 1970, Anita Roddick (then Anita Perella) visited "The Body Shop" housed in a car repairs garage in Berkeley, California selling naturally-scented soaps and lotions. The shop run by Peggy Short and Jane Saunders used natural ingredients, and helped to employ and train immigrant women. Six years later, in 1976, Roddick opened a similar shop in the UK, using the same business name, colour scheme, and cosmetic lines. In 1987, Roddick offered Short and Saunders $3.5 million to purchase the name "The Body Shop". From its first launch in the UK in 1976, The Body Shop experienced rapid growth, expanding at a rate of 50 percent annually.
The Body Shop was floated on London's Unlisted Securities Market in April 1984, opening at 95p. After it obtained a full listing on the , the stock was given the nickname "The shares that defy gravity," as its price increased by more than 500%.
The Body Shop turned increasingly toward social and environmental campaigns to promote its business in the late 1980s. In 1997, Roddick launched a global campaign to raise self-esteem in women and against the media stereotyping of women. It focused on unreasonably skinny models in the context of rising numbers in bulimia and anorexia.
The opening of Roddick's first modest shop received early attention when the Brighton newspaper, The Evening Argus, carried an article about an undertaker with a nearby store who complained about the use of the name "The Body Shop."
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Wikipedia