The Body Shop filed for bankruptcy and is already closing its stores in the United States.
Based in the United Kingdom, the business filed for Chapter 7 liquidation in New York last week, as per a court document. According to the statement, the business would sell off certain assets to settle its debts with creditors. The cosmetics retailer said earlier this month that it has submitted reorganization applications to both Canada and its native United Kingdom.
The business said it was closing its remaining U.S. outlets, while some of its shops in foreign nations would stay open.
A request for comment was not immediately answered by a Body Shop representative. About fifty sites were open in the United States at the time of the bankruptcy filing, according to The Guardian.
Body Shop was created in Brighton, United Kingdom, in 1976 by Anita Roddick, a rights activist and entrepreneur. She used the name of an older Berkeley, California, business to launch the store. In 2006, cosmetics giant L’Oréal purchased he for an estimated $1.3 billion. It then changed hands once more until a private equity firm paid almost $250 million to purchase it in December.
However, the business failed in February, and administrators blamed difficult retail conditions and poor management.
According to Reuters, the administrators said in a statement that “The Body Shop has faced an extended period of financial challenges under past owners, coinciding with a difficult trading environment for the wider retail sector.”
SOURCE: NBC NEWS
