Inside The Body Shop’s new Toronto pop-up shop

In time for peak holiday gifting season, The Body Shop has opened a pop-up (93 Bloor Street West) in Toronto’s Yorkville shopping hub. Located a few steps east of where the retailer once had a long-standing store, it opened this month and will stay until January 31.

As the U.K.-based brand turns 40 this year, it’s re-invigorating its heritage as an early adopter of environmentally conscious consumerism, and setting its sights on becoming the “world’s greenest company,” a goal conveyed in this pop-up shop.

A departure from The Body Shop’s traditional retail look, the plant-filled space comes complete with iPads, which customers can tap and swipe to discover product ingredients and charitable initiatives. For instance, they can find out where the shea nuts used in the perennially popular Body Butter are sourced, or learn how the retailer’s Bio-Bridges Program can help endangered animals in deforested ecosystems find a mate. If this retail experiment proves a hit, The Body Shop will introduce similar installations and experiences at other stores.

We caught up with Jennifer Spencer, VP of marketing & corporate responsibility for The Body Shop Canada, to find out more about this new pop-up experiment.

What was the motivation for the pop-up?

We are approaching the holiday season, and being a key gifting destination it’s a great opportunity for us to showcase our incredible Christmas gift assortment and our supporting Bio-Bridges campaign. It’s also an opportunity for us to reach a new customer who has not shopped with us in the past.

Why this location?

We used to have a location on this premium street and we are excited to be back again. This is the first Canadian pop-up of its kind, but we’ve tested the concept globally and had strong success.

The space is different from the typical Body Shop store. Why the new look?

We wanted to test different installations and customer activations to showcase our gift assortment and our Enrich Not Exploit commitment. We really focused on creating an experience to tell more stories around our products, and the ways in which we are enriching our planet through our community trade partnerships.

What features and experiences are unique here?

There are several new elements in the space and some that will be incorporated into our holiday set-up, including our iPad station, a display dedicated to our founder Anita Roddick, a “create your own holiday gift” display, and a life-sized advent calendar. Also, starting November 8, customers will be able to personalize their own Body Butter label.

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