Where do you begin with the story of Body Shop. So many twists and turns, and so many lessons.
Anyone who remembers the 1980s and 1990s experienced a totally new retail concept. Body Shop was way ahead of its time in the world of conscientious cosmetics and toiletries.
It was primarily a producer, ensuring that all of its products were kind to the environment, kind to animals and kind to the people who used them. That ethos enveloped the whole brand from product to packaging, from the branding, labelling, packaging and the friendly people who served you.
It was so cool. The brand used to produce crazily designed colourful postcards with messages about saving the planet, animal welfare and some its its hero products. These were free and collected by everyone. Such an innovative way to spread the word about the brand. They were also the first brand to use refillable containers for the creams and toiletries.
The inspiration and the coolness came from its founder and leader Anita Roddick. You can’t call many retailers revolutionaries but that is absolutely what she was with her brave and disruptive philosophy. She challenged the way that brands and customers considered the beauty industry. Her innovations went far beyond beauty.
The Body Shop was based in Brighton on the South coast of England, because Anita Roddick was based there. It was, and is to this day, a place of creativity, innovation and environmentalism. It was the perfect place to grow a team of passionate like-minded individuals.
What emerged from Brighton was a rough diamond. One that had never been seen before. For sure, as with most entrepreneurial businesses, it needed some rough areas smoothing in the supply chain, retail operations and location strategy. But for its customers it was the roughness, the disruption of traditional perceptions of beauty that made it special.
What has transpired, as the brand has passed through classic beauty houses, it that it could not be made any more beautiful to its customers through any degree of polishing. It simply became something else like everyone else.
Maybe the new owners have also realised this. A significant development is that the head office of Body Shop is to return home to its home city of Brighton, where it was hewn so many years ago.
Maybe this change of environment will see a change of fortune for this much cherished gem.