Eco-friendly retailer?s scale could double
Eco-friendly cosmetics retailer The Body Shop could more than double in size internationally over the next few years, according to expansion ambitions revealed by parent company L'Oreal.

L'Oreal chief executive Jean-Paul Agon said in a Financial Times interview that possible future markets included China, Brazil, Argentina and Chile. Body Shop has already joined a number of British retailers in launching in India.

Agon said: 'This brand has a worldwide potential. It is already in more than 50 countries and has 2,000 stores but in a few years from now it could be in 100 countries and 5,000 stores.'

L'Oreal, which stopped testing finished products on animals in 1989, added that it hoped to eradicate animal testing through on going research - one of the long-term goals of The Body Shop founder Dame Anita Roddick. The French cosmetics manufacturer bought The Body Shop earlier this year for£652 million.