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Anita Roddick 
and her husband, 
Gordon, opened 
the first Body 
Shop in 1976 in 
Brighton, England.
It was funded 
with a bank loan
of £4000 ($8000).
On the first day
the shop took a
mere £130 ($260)
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The Body Shop 
grew rapidly, 
most of its shops 
being run by 
franchise-holders. 
Ten years after 
the first shop 
opened, there 
were 79 through-
out the UK
#
Roddick announced
an investment of
£2.1 million in
the USA and Japan
in 1987. By that
time, expansion
overseas had pushed
the  number of
Body Shops up to
250; four years
later there were
587 of them in
39 countries 
#
Roddick became 
as well known
for her social 
philosophy as
for her business 
prowess. The 
environmental 
campaigns to 
which she com-
mitted herself
and her company 
attracted most 
attention, but
the management 
style of Body 
Shop was also 
a reflection of 
Anita Roddick's
ideological zeal
#
The success of 
Body Shop led 
other retailers 
to create their
own competing 
brands. By mid-
1995, the Body 
Shop had 1220 
outlets; but in
the USA, where
the company had
great difficulty
in establishing
itself, it faced
20 look-alike
competitors 
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The Body Shop's 
Trade Not Aid 
program aimed to
provide trading 
links with tribal 
communities. 
Roddick has 
traveled widely
in South America, 
both to source 
raw materials 
and to research
environmental 
issues
#
Roddick has 
taken a special 
interest in the 
people of the 
rainforest in 
Brazil. She led
a demonstration
at the Brazilian 
Embassy in 1989
to protest against 
the destruction of 
the forests. Such
actions drew
attention to the 
tragedy in the
rainforests - and,
of course, they
raised the profile
of the Body Shop 
#
One of The Body 
Shop's founding 
principles was
to sell beauty 
products that
had been made 
without cruelty
to animals. When,
in 1990, an EC
proposal sought
to outlaw such 
products, Anita
Roddick went on
the offensive
#
Another campaign, 
another photo 
opportunity, and 
yet more good 
publicity for The 
Body Shop. Anita 
Roddick has the
knack of promoting
human rights and 
environmental 
issues, herself, 
and her business, 
all in one
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