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Body Shop UK stores and jobs at risk as firm tries to secure future – BBC.com

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The Body Shop’s UK business has entered administration, potentially putting up to 2,000 jobs at risk.

The retailer’s shops will remain open as usual while the administrators try to save the UK firm.

Restructuring firm FRP, which has been appointed as the administrator, said it would now consider all options to find a way forward for the business.

The Body Shop was started by the late Dame Anita Roddick in 1976 from a single shop in Brighton.

It grew into a global brand, pioneering ethical trading and a stance against testing beauty products on animals.

FRP Advisory said creating “a more nimble and financially stable UK business” was an important step in it becoming a modern beauty brand “relevant to customers and able to compete for the long term”.

The administrators are expected to try to substantially cut costs, including on property and rents which could lead to job cuts.

It is highly unlikely that The Body Shop name will completely disappear from Britain’s High Streets after nearly 50 years.

The retailer’s British business has more than 200 shops and a handful of franchises across the UK as well as its headquarters in London.

Aurelius, the European private equity firm that bought the brand for £207m in November, took the drastic decision to place it into administration after poor sales during the key Christmas trading period.

FRP said that The Body Shop had faced “an extended period of financial challenges under past owners”.

The Body Shop has now changed hands three times since it was sold by founder Dame Anita in 2006, shortly before her death the following year.

There are hopes it will be restructured to better compete with brands such as Lush, best-known for its bath bombs and face masks, which is popular with younger shoppers.

Lesley Hayhurst, 70, was one of The Body Shop’s first customers and lived locally to its first shop in Brighton.

She told the BBC she had first gone into the store in her early 20s to get her ears pierced.

Lesley Hayhurst Lesley HayhurstLesley Hayhurst
Lesley Hayhurst lived locally to the brand’s first shop in Brighton

“It was so new, we didn’t have anything else like it. The whole atmosphere was so colourful, and yet so cosy,” she said.

But Lesley said the products she likes are expensive and that she cannot always afford to buy them

“I think it’s sad. It’s another one of our High Street institutions that we’re losing,” she added.

Jasmine Payne, 39, has similar happy memories of weekends spent in The Body Shop and was particularly drawn to the company’s stance of not testing products on animals.

“I was a teenager growing up in the 1990s, now I’m nearly 40 and although I still love the products they’re too expensive,” she said.

Jasmine says she can buy other shampoo and conditioner for half the price or less, which again is not tested on animals.

“If I could afford it, then I would buy Body Shop [branded products],” she said.


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Roots sees room for expansion in activewear, reports $5.2M Q2 loss and sales drop

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TORONTO – Roots Corp. may have built its brand on all things comfy and cosy, but its CEO says activewear is now “really becoming a core part” of the brand.

The category, which at Roots spans leggings, tracksuits, sports bras and bike shorts, has seen such sustained double-digit growth that Meghan Roach plans to make it a key part of the business’ future.

“It’s an area … you will see us continue to expand upon,” she told analysts on a Friday call.

The Toronto-based retailer’s push into activewear has taken shape over many years and included several turns as the official designer and supplier of Team Canada’s Olympic uniform.

But consumers have had plenty of choice when it comes to workout gear and other apparel suited to their sporting needs. On top of the slew of athletic brands like Nike and Adidas, shoppers have also gravitated toward Lululemon Athletica Inc., Alo and Vuori, ramping up competition in the activewear category.

Roach feels Roots’ toehold in the category stems from the fit, feel and following its merchandise has cultivated.

“Our product really resonates with (shoppers) because you can wear it through multiple different use cases and occasions,” she said.

“We’ve been seeing customers come back again and again for some of these core products in our activewear collection.”

Her remarks came the same day as Roots revealed it lost $5.2 million in its latest quarter compared with a loss of $5.3 million in the same quarter last year.

The company said the second-quarter loss amounted to 13 cents per diluted share for the quarter ended Aug. 3, the same as a year earlier.

In presenting the results, Roach reminded analysts that the first half of the year is usually “seasonally small,” representing just 30 per cent of the company’s annual sales.

Sales for the second quarter totalled $47.7 million, down from $49.4 million in the same quarter last year.

The move lower came as direct-to-consumer sales amounted to $36.4 million, down from $37.1 million a year earlier, as comparable sales edged down 0.2 per cent.

The numbers reflect the fact that Roots continued to grapple with inventory challenges in the company’s Cooper fleece line that first cropped up in its previous quarter.

Roots recently began to use artificial intelligence to assist with daily inventory replenishments and said more tools helping with allocation will go live in the next quarter.

Beyond that time period, the company intends to keep exploring AI and renovate more of its stores.

It will also re-evaluate its design ranks.

Roots announced Friday that chief product officer Karuna Scheinfeld has stepped down.

Rather than fill the role, the company plans to hire senior level design talent with international experience in the outdoor and activewear sectors who will take on tasks previously done by the chief product officer.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:ROOT)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Talks on today over HandyDART strike affecting vulnerable people in Metro Vancouver

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VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, are set to resume today as a strike that has stopped most services drags into a second week.

No timeline has been set for the length of the negotiations, but Joe McCann, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they are willing to stay there as long as it takes, even if talks drag on all night.

About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people unable to navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last Tuesday, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.

Hundreds of drivers rallied outside TransLink’s head office earlier this week, calling for the transportation provider to intervene in the dispute with Transdev, which was contracted to oversee HandyDART service.

Transdev said earlier this week that it will provide a reply to the union’s latest proposal on Thursday.

A statement from the company said it “strongly believes” that their employees deserve fair wages, and that a fair contract “must balance the needs of their employees, clients and taxpayers.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Transat AT reports $39.9M Q3 loss compared with $57.3M profit a year earlier

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MONTREAL – Travel company Transat AT Inc. reported a loss in its latest quarter compared with a profit a year earlier as its revenue edged lower.

The parent company of Air Transat says it lost $39.9 million or $1.03 per diluted share in its quarter ended July 31.

The result compared with a profit of $57.3 million or $1.49 per diluted share a year earlier.

Revenue in what was the company’s third quarter totalled $736.2 million, down from $746.3 million in the same quarter last year.

On an adjusted basis, Transat says it lost $1.10 per share in its latest quarter compared with an adjusted profit of $1.10 per share a year earlier.

Transat chief executive Annick Guérard says demand for leisure travel remains healthy, as evidenced by higher traffic, but consumers are increasingly price conscious given the current economic uncertainty.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 12, 2024.

Companies in this story: (TSX:TRZ)

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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