Anita Roddick founded The Body Shop in Brighton in 1976 as an ethical cosmetics retailer.
Roddick opened the first shop on 26 March 1976 while her husband, Gordon Roddick, was travelling in the Americas. She began with a small range of products, using refillable containers and promoting ideas such as cruelty-free testing and fair trade.
The company expanded internationally through franchising. Its activism became a major part of its identity, including campaigns related to human rights, environmental protection, and opposition to animal testing in cosmetics. The Body Shop became one of the best-known examples of values-led entrepreneurship.
A common mix-up is confusing The Body Shop with Lush, another cosmetics retailer associated with ethical products. Lush was founded later, in 1995, by Mark Constantine, Mo Constantine, Rowena Bird, and others. The Body Shop was acquired by L'Oréal in 2006, and its ownership later changed several times.