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In terms of the most powerful women in the retail industry over the past twenty years or so, Anita Roddick is one entrepreneur that has to rank up there with the best of them. The founder of The Body Shop revolutionized the way that consumers viewed the cosmetics and body care products that they bought and has made the world a better place as a direct result of it. Anita Roddick was one of the most forward thinking women of her generation and made a name for herself as a result of that quality. Although her life was sadly cut short on September 10, 2007, her legacy will live on.

Humble Beginnings

Roddick, or Anita Lucia Perilli as she was known then, was born on October 23, 1942 in Littlehampton, Sussex in the UK. Her family were Italian immigrants and had left Naples shortly before World War II broke out. As such, they had little money and worked hard to make ends meet. However, the entrepreneur showed a thirst for knowledge at school and managed to achieve a place at Bath Spa University to train as a teacher. After graduation though, Roddick decided that she wanted to see the world rather than remaining in the UK.

The entrepreneur traveled far and wide for a few years before returning home, which is when she met her husband, Gordon Roddick. Roddick had money and set about building a business empire to help support his new family. The couple opened a hotel and a restaurant but Gordon often had to work away a lot, so the budding entrepreneur decided to open her own business in order to make enough money to support the family in his absence. The Body Shop was born.

The Body Shop

The Body Shop initially stocked 15 products and opened in Brighton in 1976. It was unique in that Roddick advocated banning testing on animals and the concept of fair trade with third world nations. The entrepreneur was the very first to do so and thus has helped to develop the ethical consumerism that is demonstrated in society today. This was what set her products apart from the competition and why the business soon became a roaring success. As such, the second of Roddick’s stores opened the very same year.

The products that the entrepreneur sold were all based around the information about health and various natural cosmetic substances that she had picked upon her world travels before she was married. This was extremely unique and innovative, and extremely popular among the public and that may go some way to explaining why there were 700 stores throughout the UK by 1991. That same year, the entrepreneur won the World Vision Award for Development Initiative and thus began the global dominance of The Body Shop. The award put Roddick squarely in the public eye and acted as a catalyst for international expansion. Thirteen years later, there were 1980 stores throughout the world.

However, Roddick was to be the center of controversy in 2004. The Body Shop stood for not testing on animals and fair trade. The established values was a large reason as to why The Body Shop has such loyal customers, and yet the entrepreneur sold the business in 2006 for £652 million to a company that was known for the exact opposite. L’Oreal was well known for contravening fair trade agreements and testing on animals. Roddick justified it by stating that she had been given 25 days a year to offer her opinions and input into the business practices of the French giant. This appeased some and angered others but the fact remains that Roddick has turned the remnants of her travel experiences into a viable business that sold for millions as a result of her forward thinking values, which also sparked a consumer revolution.