After seeking protection from creditors in the United Kingdom earlier this week, The Body Shop is now doing the same in Germany. In France and Benelux, unrest is growing as the webshop has been shut down.
Substantial restructuring
The sustainable cosmetics chain, owned by German investment group Aurelius since November last year, is in a bad shape. On Tuesday, the new owner started bankruptcy proceedings for the British branch. A receiver has been appointed, who will clean up the company with a view to a relaunch. This may involve closing a hundred shops – almost half of the UK total.
A day later, it became clear that the retailer’s problems had spread to the Mainland. The German division has also filed for protection against creditors, Bild reports, and a receiver has been appointed there as well. For now, the retailer has 66 shops and 350 employees in Germany.
Grave concerns
All of this is also fuelling unrest in other countries, and in particular with the French management (which also runs the operations in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). According to trade magazine LSA, management in France is not receiving any news from British headquarters. And – coincidence or not – the French, Belgian and Dutch web shops have been closed since Friday morning – officially due to maintenance works. The chain has sixty stores in France, twenty in Belgium and thirty in the Netherlands.
Last month, Aurelius announced that it would sell part of its European and Asian operations to an unspecified buyer. According to insiders, this could be Alma24, a fund owned by German entrepreneur Friedrich Trautwein. However, because of French social legislation, the French company would not be included in that sale, meaning the concerns remain particularly high.
