New Bodycare store at Merry Hill will host new content creator studio for filming social media videos

The forthcoming new Bodycare store at Merry Hill will feature a state-of-the-art creator studio allowing shoppers to film their own social media content using top kit free of charge.

The shopping centre in Brierley Hill is among 17 locations getting ready for the return of Bodycare to the high street after the business was bought out of administration in October 2025.

The retailer, which shut all of its 147 stores after falling into administration in September 2025 with the loss of around 1,500 jobs nationwide, is preparing to return with a new-look store format and a refreshed health and beauty offering, K-beauty products and fine fragrances.

Its new look website says the first store opening will be in Sheffield with the Merry Hill shop and others listed as coming soon.

The relaunch of the health and beauty chain will see Bodycare move into a new, modern direction.

Its stores will include piercing studios and new ‘Live @ Bodycare’ content creator studios with lighting and high quality kit for filming social media videos.

A note on the company’s website states: “We’re here to support and guide you through your entire Bodycare journey, from our free piercing studio, staffed by fully trained professionals, to our state of the art creator space where you can film your own social media content using the best kit, completely free of charge.”

And it adds: “Whether you’re already posting every day or you’ve never filmed anything before, Live @ Bodycare is here for you.

“It’s a free space for your ideas, your content and there are loads of ways to get involved.”

Bodycare, which was founded in Lancashire in the 1970s, had stores in towns and shopping centres across the Midlands including Merry Hill, Wolverhampton and Bridgnorth and was a fixture on British high streets for decades before its collapse, but its fortunes were hit by increasing operational costs, high rents and a drop in footfall.

However, in October 2025 Bodycare’s assets were acquired by an investor-led group led by Charles Denton, former CEO of The Body Shop, with a view to reviving it and returning it to the high street in 2026.

Executive managing director David Purslow and surveyor Jake Blackwell of Newmark advised Bodycare, with the locations for its first new outlets selected due to their strong sales performance under the brand’s previous ownership.

The acquisition has enabled a full operational restart of the popular heritage brand, it was announced in April this year, with a long-term ambition to open up to 200 stores nationwide in the future.

Newmark said in April that the new stores would launch under a new experiential ‘Bodycare Studio’ format with shops configured to drive discovery and encourage repeat visits - with in-store demonstration zones, screens, live broadcast studios and dedicated creator spaces - while staying true to the brand’s core ethos of providing accessible beauty products.

The format has been designed as part of the brand’s digital-first strategy and to complement its social media presence.

Other stores are planned for Leicester, Derby, Bradford, Blackburn, Leeds, Bury, Livingston, Sunderland, Cwbran, Gateshead, Glasgow, Luton, Warrington, Northampton and Wakefield.

Bodycare and Merry Hill have been contacted for further comment about the opening of the new store at Merry Hill shopping centre.