L’Oreal Looking to Sell Off the Body Shop

Another day, another company looking to pull out of a retail entanglement: This time it’s L’Oreal, which has confirmed reports that it’s looking into selling off The Body Shop chain of stores. In other news, today we learned that L’Oreal owns The Body Shop.
 
For those not in the know, The Body Shop is a cosmetics and skincare chain founded in 1976 in Brighton, England. It was acquired by L’Oreal in 2006.
 
The French company made the announcement in its annual results statement, saying that as part of a “brand portfolio optimization effort” it had decided “to explore all strategic options regarding The Body Shop’s ownership.”
 
This plan will give the chain “the best opportunities and full ability to continue its development,” L’Oreal says. It could still decide to keep The Body Shop around, as “No decision has been taken so far,” the cosmetics company adds.
 
The Associated Press notes that the chain hasn’t performed as well as the rest of L’Oreal, with a 6% decline in sales in the last quarter of 2016. The company’s overall sales went up 5% that quarter.