While you may love Bath & Body Works, there's a lot you don't know about this global brand
of scents, soaps, body sprays, and more. Long story short, the way to the top hasn't been
all juniper and plumeria.
Before the company opened up its flagship store in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1990,
Bath & Body Works products were sold at Express clothing stores. For the first year of its
existence, the store promoted its brand with green colors and an eco-friendly message that
it hoped would set it apart from the competition. But it ended up having the opposite effect
when British retailer The Body Shop took notice of the similarities between itself and the
new brand on the block, and sued over the perceived similarities between the companies'
identities and brand design.
Within one year of Bath and Body Works emerging on the market, The Body Shop filed a lawsuit
against Bath & Body Works in 1991. When the British company won the lawsuit, Bath and
Body Works was forced to change its brand identity to something more like an American
heartland theme, and even decorating its stores with gingham print and wooden barrels to help
seal the deal on the new, infringement-free look. They also debuted a recognizable sunburst
logo, securing a brand identity that they truly could call their own.
Bath & Body Works may have been originally sold at Express, but the style the two brands
cultivated was definitely a little mismatched. In an attempt to strengthen their own image
as a company, Bath & Body Works executives reportedly created a fictional character named
"Kate" who aimed to personify the kind of sensibilities the company wanted to establish
in consumers' minds.
In the Tumblr blog "BBW Heartland," a former store employee divulged the origin story of
the mythical founder, as it was told to her by her former manager. The blogger wrote,
"Kate grew up on a farm in the Midwest and loved to make her own beauty products using
the natural ingredients she found around the farm. She went to college and majored in biology
so she could learn more about the beneficial properties of these natural ingredients. When
she graduated, she decided to open up her own store to sell her homemade, natural beauty
products."
She also said that during the "Kate" era, store employees were told they should always
ask themselves what Kate would do when it came to everything involving their jobs. If
Kate wouldn't have done something, they should not do it either. Stores were also decorated
to supposedly resemble Kate's house all of which is pretty amusing, since the mysterious
woman herself was apparently never anything more than a marketing trick.
In 2005, Bath & Body Works began to integrate a variety of externally-sourced brands at
the store. It began with the parent company's acquisition of Slatkin & Co, which was an
upscale home fragrance line popular with celebrities including Vera Wang, Elton John, and Princess
Diana.
2008 was another big year for Bath and Body Works, with the company beginning to integrate
even more outside product lines into the offerings at the store. These offerings were typically
high-end cosmetic and skincare products, including brands such as Caudalie, Murad, luxury hair
care line Frederic Fekkai, as well as body care lines C.O. Bigelow and True Blue Spa.
They also included Patricia Wexler's line of skincare products. Ultimately, most of
these brands were phased out completely.
Ask anyone who grew up in the '90s and they'll probably tell you a story about leaking Plumeria
body spray all over their backpack or about that girl who always smelled like Sun-Ripened
Raspberry. But these memories probably aren't recent. Over the years, Bath & Body Works
has discontinued many of their most iconic fragrances for the sake of bringing new ones
in.
While those scents were gone, they were never forgotten. According to Glamour, the brand
relaunched some old favorites in 2015, including Country Apple, Cucumber Melon, Juniper Breeze,
Pearberry, Plumeria, and White Tea & Ginger.
The idea turned out to be a good one, and, the following year, the company aimed to bring
back even more old favorites from the vault, including Peony, Sun-Ripened Raspberry, Freesia,
Brown Sugar and Fig, Mango Mandarin, and Cotton Blossom.
These products were available as shower gels, body crèmes, and body lotions, as well as
fine fragrance mists, which back in their heyday were sometimes advertised as "body
splashes."
Bath & Body Works guarantees their products 100 percent, offering full refunds for absolutely
every item they sell. However, several former store employees The List spoke with said that
many customers have taken advantage of this policy, with some customers even returning
completely empty bottles.
"Gotcha, that sounds good. That's smart."
But that can sometimes be the least of the store's problems, according to a former associate,
who wished to remain anonymous: That associate said,
"One woman brought all these nasty, used bath poufs in. She wanted to exchange them for
new ones because she [said she] didn't like them."
Another former employee, who also wished to remain anonymous, shared that candles are
frequently returned, saying,
"People used to come in all the time with a fully burnt candle and say they wanted a
refund because they didn't like the scent."
"Again, I don't see the problem."
But not all returns are unethical. Some are downright hilarious. A different former retail
employee, who also wished to remain anonymous, said that some customers just aren't the smartest.
They claimed,
"A woman returned some body butter because it didn't taste good on her toast. The cashier
had to explain it was lotion, not actual butter."
"I could see that as a very real possibility."
If you have never seen a Bath & Body Works ad on TV, it's for a very specific reason.
The company reportedly doesn't think that traditional advertising is the best way to
promote their products.
Instead of paying out the nose for more usual modes of advertising, the brand chooses to
spend its ad budget marketing directly to their customers. Every time someone makes
a purchase, their data and contact information is collected. The purpose of this is to send
targeted ads via snail mail and email, as well as coupons. Knowing they are getting
the best possible price keeps customers coming back to shop, and it also keeps profits up
for the company itself.
One former employee The List spoke with even divulged that the stores track everything
from how many customers they have to how many purchases each customer gets.
Anyone who has ever walked into a Bath & Body Works retail location knows the moment that
you step through the doors, you will immediately be hit with a distinctive and overwhelming
scent, which is basically a combination of every single fragrance the store sells. It
can be a lot, even if you're just walking by at the mall. If you've ever wondered how
employees deal with the smell, the answer might just surprise you.
The List spoke with Maleeka Hollaway, who worked at Bath & Body Works for a year. In
her experience,
"The scent is only overpowering for the first ten minutes or so. Once you get settled, it
goes away. I know of plenty of people who won't go near a Bath & Body Works store because
they get immediate headaches. I, on the other hand, would cover myself in a scent as soon
as I clocked in and then with another scent before I left. It's really a personal preference
kind of deal."
When we spoke with Victoria Cameron, who was employed at the store from 2005 to 2010, she
shared that inconsiderate shoppers contributed to the strong smell of the place more than
you might think. She said,
"It was the worst when customers would spray several of the concentrated room sprays, not
caring how strong they are. The combined smells would stick around for hours and give the
staff headaches."
A former employee revealed in a Reddit Ask-Me-Anything thread that Bath & Body Works will always
give you a coupon, as long as you ask even if you aren't being entirely truthful.
As that poster claimed,
"There are always "$10 off $30 [purchase]" coupons we can use. If you don't have one,
all you have to do is go in, fill up your bag with $30 worth of stuff, go to someone
and say you had completed a survey [for] a coupon but you forgot it."
According to the post, while you're not guaranteed to get the coupon, you're more likely to get
it than you might think, mostly because the store doesn't want to lose out on a potential
sale.
Cost-cutting expert the Krazy Coupon Lady has also found tons of coupon hacks. For example,
you can use coupons on sale items, but valid coupons and sales don't overlap most of the
time. However, because the store allegedly offers a three-day grace period on expired
coupons, she explained that you can use an expired one to get the highest discount possible.
If you're a fan of Bath & Body Works, there's a good chance you have a favorite fragrance
or three. But did you know that there are some regional patterns when it comes to loving
specific scents? Thanks to Refinery 29, which took the time to break down how popular nine
Bath & Body Works fragrances are received by state, now you know.
Rose is widely popular in a variety of locales, from several states in the northeast all the
way out to Colorado and Utah. The scent called "In the Stars" is decidedly well-loved in
the Midwest, and "Sweet Pea" is a big hit in Puerto Rico.
Land-locked West Virginia loves At The Beach while Wyoming has a sweet spot for Pink Passion
Fruit & Banana Flower think some folks might be in need of a tropical vacation?
That may also be the case for fans of Black Coconut Sands, which is big in Montana, Idaho,
and Oregon. Additionally, "A Thousand Wishes" is loved from east to west, and One in a Million
is popular all over the place. Where does your favorite scent reign?
Despite 50 store closures in the United States in 2020, Bath & Body Works still has well
over a thousand locations across the United States and Canada, with plans to add more
in the future. But those aren't the only brick and mortar locations where you can shop for
the company's products, as they also have several locations scattered throughout the
world.
If you're in Europe, you can stop by a Bath & Body Works in Poland, Italy, Russia, or
Turkey. It looks like the brand is even more popular in the Middle East, as they have stores
in a handful of countries from Jordan to Saudi Arabia to Kuwait.
If you're traveling to Latin America, you can shop at Bath & Body Works stores in nine
countries, and in Asia you'll find seven locations, including in Singapore, Thailand, and India.
Finally, if you're in the land down under, fear not! There are plenty of Bath & Body
Works outposts dotting the landscape in Australia.
With all that's been going on in the world in 2020, some storied retailers, like Neiman
Marcus, J. Crew, and J.C. Penney have had to file for bankruptcy. Other brands have
had to shutter their stores entirely as part of the process, which was the case for Pier
1 Imports.
With shifting priorities and the rise of online shopping, the way the market operates has
changed drastically from what it was only a couple decades ago. Long story short, we're
definitely not killing time hanging out at the mall anymore.
But as far as Bath & Body Works is concerned, the future is looking bright and obviously
smelling like flowers and sunshine, thanks to a little bit of savvy and a sprinkling
of luck. For as long as self care is in style, the brand will always have a willing market
ready to purchase the fragrances that help them relax and unwind. And with a never-ending
supply of new products being debuted on their website, it's clear the retailer has no plans
to slow down anytime soon.
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