Anita Roddick opened the first Body Shop store in Brighton, England, in 1976.
Roddick started the business on Brighton’s Kensington Church Street while her husband was travelling. She designed the shop around refillable containers and products marketed with natural ingredients, helping distinguish the new business from conventional beauty retailers.
The first store was small, but the concept attracted customers and led to rapid expansion through additional branches and franchising. The Body Shop became particularly associated with campaigns against animal testing and with ethical-consumer messaging.
The Body Shop’s first location is sometimes mistakenly placed in London because the company later became internationally prominent and headquartered in the wider London area. Brighton is the correct city for the original 1976 shop, which represents the company’s local-business starting point.