Body Time History

B O D Y T I M E, the original Body Shop, opened in 1970 on Telegraph Avenue in Berkeley, California by sisters-in-law, Peggy Short and Jane Saunders.

There are currently four Body Time retail stores: two in Berkeley, one in Oakland and one in Marin County, as well as a mail order division that operates from its Berkeley headquarters.

Peggy and Jane introduced several new concepts that set The Body Shop apart from the mainstream cosmetics industry.

As soon as you walked into The Body Shop you knew you were in a unique store. The friendly, relaxed atmosphere was in sharp contrast to the formal, often intimidating feeling of department-store cosmetics counters. Instead of the usual glass and chrome décor, The Body Shop had a naturally finished wood counter, with an antique wood mantle piece and mirror on the wall. The signs were homemade and the salespeople dressed causally.

The Body Shop products themselves were displayed in simple plastic bottles, with minimal packaging and handwritten labels. The products were biodegradable and many of the names emphasized natural ingredients. Body Shop products were of the same quality as those of major manufacturers, i.e. the cosmetic counters or drug stores, but were sold at much lower prices, due to the lack of expensive advertising and packaging costs.

The Body Shop was also unique in featuring a wide selection of concentrated perfume oils. Customers could use the oils straight from the bottle, dilute them to make inexpensive perfumes and colognes, create their own original blends, or have their lotions or body oils “custom scented” with their choice of fragrance.

Another innovation of The Body Shop was its environmentally conscious policy of encouraging customers to recycle–and save money at the same time–by giving them a discount when they brought in their empty bottles to be refilled. This policy continues to this day with Body Time giving $1.00 discount per refillable product.

In 1976 a British company also calling itself “The Body Shop” opened the same kind of business in England offering many of the same types of products and services. In 1987 Jane and Peggy were persuaded to sell the rights to the name “The Body Shop” to Body Shop International (BSI) who wanted to further their global expansion and enter the U.S. market. Subsequently, Jane Saunders, who in 1979 had split off the wholesale operation to form her own business, changed her company name to Terra Nova/Nectarine. Peggy Short continued to use the name The Body Shop until June of 1992, when the company changed its name to Body Time.

Today, Manda Heron, Peggy Short’s daughter, owns and operates the company using the same principles initiated by Peggy and Jane.

Body Time produces two product lines: