Throughout 2024, The Body Shop has made headlines regarding its future: in February, the company announced the closure of nearly half of its UK stores and faced financial difficulties, nearing rescue in its home country; shortly after, it declared bankruptcy in France. But what about the brand’s situation in Spain? Two of its senior executives have taken on the franchise rights in Spain and Portugal, securing its continuity in the Iberian market.

According to reports by El Economista, Veneta Petkova, master franchisee for The Body Shop in Bulgaria, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Albania, along with Diego Ortiz de Zevallos, the former general director for Iberia and Scandinavia, have now acquired the operational rights for The Body Shop in the Spanish and Portuguese markets.

The brand operates 72 stores across the Iberian Peninsula (48 in Spain and 24 in Portugal) and is also distributed through multi-brand retailers like Druni. Founded in 1976 by Anita and Gordon Roddick, The Body Shop first entered the Iberian market in 1986.

In June 2023, the acquisition of The Body Shop by Aurea Holdings, a Gibraltar-based fund, was announced. By the end of 2023, the Natura Group had sold the brand to Aurelius.

As for the new franchise owners in Iberia, Veneta Petkova has an impressive track record. She brought the Spanish home textile brand Textura to Bulgaria in 2009 and introduced The Body Shop to the Bulgarian market in 2018, where she currently operates eight stores. Petkova also oversees The Body Shop’s presence in Albania (with two stores), Kosovo (three stores), and North Macedonia (one store). Diego Ortiz de Zevallos, on the other hand, worked for L’Oreal in Paris before joining The Body Shop.