The Body Shop Canada to close 33 stores, end online sales

The Body Shop Canada will close nearly a third of its stores and end online sales as it seeks creditor protec‐ tion, the Canadian sub‐ sidiary of the U.K. beauty and cosmetics shop an‐ nounced Friday.

A court filing showed the company owes more than $3.3 million to unsecured creditors and about $16,400 to secured creditors.

The company did not say how many workers would lose their jobs as a result of the store closures in cities in‐ cluding Toronto, Ottawa, Ed‐ monton, Calgary, Saskatoon and Saint John.

The company said in a press release it hopes On‐ tario court proceedings will give it "breathing room" while it evaluates its strategic alternatives and engages in restructuring.

As part of that restructur‐ ing, the company will no longer accept gift cards, sell new gift cards or provide re‐ funds, and will consider all new and previous purchases final, said Body Shop North America president Jordan Searle in a memo sent to Canadian staff on Friday and obtained by The Canadian Press.

The move comes after The Body Shop International was acquired by a private eq‐ uity firm and put into admin‐ istration last month, allowing it to restructure or wind down without paying off its debts.

At that time, the company told CBC News that its Cana‐ dian stores would not be im‐ pacted by the change.

CBC News has reached out to a spokesperson for more information.

Closure of online store a 'surprise,' says retail expert

While the writing was on the wall for the company's Canadian stores after the U.K. branch filed for adminis‐ tration, the closure of its on‐ line store comes as a sur‐ prise, said Craig Patterson, the founder and publisher of Retail Insider.

"It does, honestly, very much surprise me that that type of move would be made in a Canadian market," he said.

Consumers who no longer have access to a brick-andmortar store but who may still want to shop at The Body Shop would have done so online, he said.

He noted that some of the company's competitors, such as the popular U.K. retailer Lush Cosmetics, have an on‐ line presence in Canada. Lush also operates brick-andmortar stores across the country.

"Just not having that web presence, I think, is going to be detrimental to the com‐ pany in Canada," said Patter‐ son.

The company, which was founded in 1976, took on an environmentally friendly ethos to distinguish itself in the cosmetics retail world, touting its cruelty-free ap‐ proach to testing.

Lianne Foti, associate pro‐ fessor at the Gordon S. Lang School of Business and Eco‐ nomics at the University of Guelph, says that over the years, it became harder for

The Body Shop to differenti‐ ate itself in the market as more competitors started of‐ fering ethical and sustainable alternatives.

"The ethical beauty and skincare market, they've real‐ ly seen significant increase in brands that promote similar values," Foti said in an inter‐ view with CBC News. "So what was once a unique sell‐ ing proposition for The Body Shop is now a common claim among many brands."

List of stores closing

The Body Shop Canada's 105 stores across the country are still open for business, the company said. The Body Shop U.S. has also ceased operations, according to the release.

The 33 locations that are closing, listed below, will im‐ mediately start liquidation sales.

Ontario

Bayview Village (Toronto); Rideau Centre (Ottawa); Car‐ lingwood Mall (Ottawa); Cataraqui Town Centre (Kingston); Lynden Park Mall (Brantford); Stone Road Mall (Guelph); Dufferin Mall (Toronto); The Shops at Don Mills (Toronto); Fairview Park Mall (Kitchener); Timmins Square (Timmins); Queen Street East (Toronto); Toronto Pearson Terminal 1 (Toronto); Lambton Mall (Sarnia); Place d'Orleans (Ottawa); Lans‐ downe Place (Peterborough)

Alberta

Sunridge Mall (Calgary);

Londonderry Mall (Edmon‐ ton); Lloyd Mall (Lloydmin‐ ster); Medicine Hat Mall (Medicine Hat); Park Place (Lethbridge)

Saskatchewan

Cornwall Centre (Regina); Lawson Heights (Saskatoon); The Centre (Saskatoon); Mid‐ town Plaza (Saskatoon)

British Columbia

Semiahmoo (White Rock); Hillside Shopping Centre (Vic‐ toria); Village Green (Vernon)

New Brunswick

McAllister Place (Saint Jo‐ hn); Champlain Place (Dieppe)

Nova Scotia

Mayflower Mall (Sydney); Truro Mall (Truro)

Manitoba

Shoppers Mall (Brandon)

Newfoundland and Labrador

Corner Brook (Corner Brook)

Plaza