The Selborne Walk store is among the 75 shops earmarked for closure over the coming weeks
The Body Shop has confirmed that its Walthamstow store will close down in the next four to six weeks.
The store, which is inside 17&Central on Selborne Walk, is among a total of 75 stores earmarked for closure across the country. Body Shop’s 116 remaining stores will stay open, administrators said.
The nearest Body Shop staying open is in Westfield Stratford City.
The beleaguered beauty brand, which announced its intention to appoint administrators on 13th February, had been bought by private equity firm Aurelius Group in November.
The company suffered from sluggish Christmas and January sales, and as the BBC reported previously, was found to have insufficient working capital to meet its day-to-day expenses.
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According to FRP Advisory, the administrators who are restructuring the company, a total of 489 staff will “regrettably” be made redundant from the planned store closures.
A worker at the Walthamstow store told the Echo that she had not been yet told when exactly the shop will close. FRP has said all impacted staff will be supported with claims to the Redundancy Payments Service.
In a statement, FRP said a “reduced store footprint will coincide with a renewed focus on [Body Shop’s] products, online sales channels and wholesale strategies” which will bring “the brand in line with industry peers and support a return to financial stability”.
Tony Wright, joint administrator, said: “In taking swift action to right-size The Body Shop UK store portfolio, we have stabilised the business and are providing the best opportunity for this iconic brand to have a long-term, sustainable future. The UK business continues to trade in administration, and we remain fully focused on exploring all options to take the business forward.”
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