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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)
- #
- 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
- @
- 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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