In turn, The Body Shop stores operated in France are in turmoil. The British chain with 900 points of sale and 1,600 franchises worldwide was already on the verge of drawing the curtain on its 75 stores operated in the United Kingdom. In France, its subsidiary was placed in receivership by the Paris commercial court on Thursday April 4. The company, which operates 66 points of sale in France and employs 266 employees, is entering a six-month observation period. The Body Shop had been owned since 2017 by the Brazilian Natura & Co, before being taken over in November 2023 by the German fund Aurelius, due to a lack of industrial candidates for its takeover. Founded in 1976 in Brighton by Anita Roddick, this chain specializing in natural cosmetics – the first to have renounced testing on animals – was bought by the L’Oréal group in 2006 which separated it, at a loss, for 1 billion euros eleven years later.