After a three week refit, Ealing Broadway’s The Body Shop is open again and the ethical beauty company has had its own store makeover with new areas to try out its products, find out about campaigns and get active in making change for the planet.
The Body Shop managing director Maddie Smith said of the reopening: “We refurbished Ealing because we want to start conversations and mobilise people to drive change right where they are.”
Ms Smith added: “We want people to get talking, get inspired and get active in our spaces. Here, customers can explore and enjoy the wide range of products we offer, but also find out how their purchase benefits not just them but wider communities and the planet, too.”
The branch was officially reopened by British-born, Southall raised Somali international player and coach Iqra Ismail who is also director of women’s football for north west London-based Hilltop WFC.
For more than 25 years, The Body Shop in Ealing Broadway has been a go to destination for anyone looking to buy beauty products that are good for them and the environment.
Since its original founding in Brighton by the late Anita Roddick in 1976, The Body Shop has been focused on offering cruelty-free, ethically-sourced and natural ingredients for its products. It was one of the first to not test its products on animals and make its range vegetarian and vegan. Since 2017, it has been owned by Brazilian company Natura & Co and still follows its original ethos.
With the new look and refreshed The Body Shop in Ealing Broadway shoppers can be guided to products to help them feel good as well as keeping their skin in tip top shape. The centre consultation area, which includes a sink area, is a new feature and allows the the store consultants to spend time with customers and guide them on what products are good for them and how to use them.
On its reopening day EALING.NEWS was treated to discovering how to make hands look and feel good by customer consultant Olivia. Olivia guided us through the process using shea butter. From applying shea scrub and washing it off through to then applying the shea moisturiser. Olivia then offered a whole host of handy hints to keep making sure hands are properly looked after.
After that, we had an opportunity to speak to Ealing’s The Body Shop branch manager Amber Holborn to find out more about its place in the community, what it stands for and what it’s like working for the company.
How long have you work for The Body Shop?
It will be 13 years in June and I’ve work at the Ealing Broadway branch for the last two years.
What do you like about Ealing Broadway and its customers?
I love it because we have a sense of community. Everybody knows everybody. Everybody says good morning. Good afternoon. Good evening. And if you don’t have a big smile on your face one of the community members will put a big smile on your face.
What makes it special for you to work at The Body Shop in Ealing Broadway?
At The Body Shop we treat everybody like a member of our family. So everybody that comes in is part of the family and gets that family service. And we care about our customers here. So not only do we want to find them the right products for their skin or their hair or their body, we want to find out how their day was how their week is. Also how their family are, and we love a family member to bring in a family member. So we’d like to know everybody
One thing we noticed in store if your new campaign with the British Youth Council to give young people the vote at age 16, instead of the current 18. Tell us about it?
We’ve actually only just started taking petitions for the campaign. It’s something that we’ve been working with behind the scenes for the last year and we’re actually live with it. We are collecting petition signatures and taking them to Parliament in order to be able to get that passed. So that’s our current campaign at the moment which is across all stores. We stand together. If we work as a unit, we’re going to have a lot more of an impact.
So how many people does your branch employ in Ealing Broadway?
Here in Ealing we have 10 members of staff and we wil have some vacancies coming up which is grest. It’s very easy to apply to work at The Body Shop. We’re very inclusive and we’re very diverse. I’m very excited to be part of The Body Shop journey that we have here in Ealing. And I think we’re just going to go from strength to strength.
Tell us about your journey with The Body Shop?
I started off as a customer consultant, and I’ve worked my way up the ranks as it were. And I’m actually a store manager but I’m also a senior store manager within the UK as well. I love The Body Shop. I have been approached to be poached before, but I actually work for The Body Shop because I’m passionate and I’m enthusiastic about our ethics and how it is that we we create change and we try to make the world a more fair and beautiful place. We do say if you’ve worked for the business for longer than 10 years you are a lifer. So I don’t plan on going anywhere.
