Media captionBalmy days: The Body Shop story "A confused shop with a mish-mash of products with no emphasis on the fact that this is supposed to be a shop specialising in cruelty-free, fair trade toiletries and make-up," is Suzy Bourke's damning verdict on The Body Shop. The 42-year-old stage manager used to be a regular shopper at the High Street chain, but now she tends to go to Boots instead. And she's not alone. According to a report in the Financial Times, its owner, cosmetics giant L'Oreal, plans to offload the High Street chain due to its slowing sales. The Body Shop, founded by Dame Anita Roddick in 1976, was a pioneer using natural ingredients for its beauty products when it started out. It initially thrived, expanding rapidly, and by the 1980s was one of the most well-known brands on the High Street. I remember the chain fondly from my youth, when it seemed to be an exciting shop full of affordable, fun and exciting products. Coloured animal soaps, banana shampoo, white musk perfume and strawberry shower gel were the height of 1980s beauty chic as far as I was concerned.
Image copyright Jean Bourke Image caption "You never see a Body Shop busy any more, they always used to be packed," says Suzy Bourke The chain is still a sizeable High Street presence with more than 3,000 stores in 66 countries and employs 22,000 people, according to its website. The Body Shop's most recent results - for the first nine months of last year show total sales were 600m euros (512m), down 4% on the same period last year, which L'Oreal blamed on market slowdowns in Hong Kong and Saudi Arabia. The sales were a tiny proportion of L'Oreal's overall 19bn euros of sales for the same period. And arguably the chain - which L'Oreal bought for 652m ($1.14bn) in 2006 - remains a lowerend and insignificant part of its huge portfolio of brands, which include skincare specialists Kiehl's, Lancome and Garnier, as well as fashion brands Ralph Lauren and Giorgio Armani.
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Veteran retail analyst Richard Hyman says he wouldn't be surprised if, a decade on, it has now decided to offload the firm, arguing it overpaid for the chain and has failed to add any value to it. "Frankly it's a bit of mystery them buying it in the first place. "What they bought is a retailer and what they're good at is brands," he says.
Image copyright Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images Image caption Analysts say The Body Shop has lost its cachet as a fashionable brand
These days the firm is not seen as "a trendy brand", but mostly as a shop for gifting and lowvalue items, such as its body butters and body lotions, she says. "With premium retailers such as Jo Malone and Liz Earle offering in-store treatments, there is more that The Body Shop could be doing to raise its profile and improve the customer experience," she adds. Nonetheless if the firm is put up for sale, Prof John Colley from Warwick Business School, believes there will still be plenty of interest from private equity funds. He expects the firm to be sold with its current separate management team, whom he says are likely to have their own ideas for how to improve it. "When a major corporate has decided it doesn't want a business, it will sell it, probably, whatever the price. "They are trying to get rid of it because it's underperforming. But anyone bidding will see a clear turnaround. Independent ownership would probably serve the firm well. A refreshed image would almost certainly work," he says. Mr Hyman, too, believes a new owner could improve The Body Shop, particularly by selling the chain's products outside its own shops. But he says trying to offload the large store estate with long committed leases will be a hindrance to any buyer. "That's not to say it isn't a business with potential, but it could perform much more strongly," he says.
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The Body Shop's ethical foundations
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