RETAIL : Environment-Aware Body Shop to Open in South Coast Plaza

A store that raises environmentally conscious retailing to a new level is coming to South Coast Plaza in Costa Mesa.

At the Body Shop, some customers bring their little lotion bottles back for refilling rather than throwing them away. It’s hard to buy sunscreen without noticing the accompanying brochure on ozone depletion. Window displays feature information on such environmentally topical subjects as global warming and animal testing.

Not only does the store exist to clean up the environment, but to sell things too. The Body Shop offers more than 350 items, each packaged in simple containers that don’t take much space in landfills and none tested on animals.

“It’s obvious to us that this area shares the Body Shop’s concern for social responsibility and environmental issues, making it the perfect location to open a shop,” said Michael Waldock, president of the company’s U.S. stores.