Beauty Brand Expands Eco-Friendly Concept in Canada

The Body Shop, a Natura &Co beauty brand, is expanding its "Workshop" store concept in Canada with four new locations. The Workshop harkens back to the retailer's “activist roots” and offers shoppers an immersive experience celebrating sustainability.

The stores, which have already opened or are set to open in 2022, are located in malls/shopping centers in Oshawa (Aug. 12), Market Mall — Calgary (Aug. 26), Metropolis at Metrotown — Burnaby (Nov. 11) and West Edmonton Mall — Edmonton (Nov. 18). The beauty retailer debuted the Workshop concept in 2020 in Vancouver. A year later, it opened a Workshop in Makkah Mall, Saudi Arabia.

The in-store experience aims to educate shoppers about sustainability and how to take ethical action in their daily life, such as offering petitions to sign in store, engaging shoppers with the store's local community efforts and sharing the stories of the people and ingredients behind Body Shop products, according to a news release.

“The Body Shop's Workshop stores are designed to reflect the local communities they serve and bring to life issues and stories that are important to them,” according to the release.

The Oshawa Centre opening coincided with the recent relaunch of The Body Shop's best-selling vitamin C skincare range, made with at least 90% ingredients of natural origin.

Additionally, the Oshawa Workshop partnered with a young, local multimedia artist and environmental activist that goes by the name Chrrie to create a window mural inspired by the brand's “Be Seen. Be Heard” campaign, which highlights young people taking up leadership positions in their community.

The Workshop Concept
Circularity is a core focus of The Body Shop's Workshop. The stores were built using a range of upcycled and reclaimed materials, such as reclaimed wood, partially recycled plastic storage crates and countertops made 100% from recycled plastic. Other notable store features include:

• A central sink area allowing shoppers to smell and test products. New makeup stands with mirrors encourage shoppers to experiment with different looks.
• Refill stations encouraging people to bring in and reuse their own aluminum bottles (up to 300 milliliters) to fill with any of the brand’s shower gels, shampoos, conditioners or hand washes.
• A gifting station enabling shoppers to personalize gifts with ribbons, recyclable paper and free stickers to personalize refill bottles.
• A dedicated "ACT area" informing shoppers of social issues affecting their communities and how positive social and environmental change can help.
• Store staff available for personalized skincare consultations upon request.

"With our workshop stores, we want to bring people together to realize that they can be changemakers and are capable of making small changes that could benefit our communities and the planet,” said Hilary Lloyd, vice president of marketing and corporate responsibility for The Body Shop North America, in the release. "From our refill stations to our new Wellness body care range, customers will get to shop the products that make them feel good, while also doing good.”

The Body Shop operates about 3,000 retail locations in more than 70 countries. Along with the Aesop, Avon and Natura brands, The Body Shop is part of Natura &Co, a global, ethically focused beauty group.