The Body Shop bankrupt in the Netherlands too

Sustainable cosmetics chain The Body Shop is now bankrupt in the Netherlands too. The shops will remain open for the time being, with options to restart being explored.

No surprise

The Dutch branch of The Body Shop was declared bankrupt on Tuesday. The 27 shops will remain open for now, but customers can no longer redeem gift vouchers, the retailer reported on Facebook. The chain’s website has been down for months, officially due to maintenance work.

The news is not surprising: the ethical cosmetics retailer already disappeared from the Belgian high streets, and made a restart with a limited number of shops the UK, after a takeover by investment company Auréa from Mike Jatania, one of the richest entrepreneurs in Britain as well as Asia. It also restarted in France and Germany, among other countries, after restructuring.

The Body Shop was founded in 1976 by animal activist Anita Roddick. The chain was a pioneer in ethical cosmetics, but lost its soul when it fell into the hands of multinational L’Oréal. A subsequent owner, Brazilian group Natura & Co, could not turn the tide and sold the company in November 2023 to German investor Aurelius, which soon found itself in financial trouble.