Yet another retailer has shut up shop on St John's Road, with L'Occitane en Provence the latest store to permanently close on the High Street.

L'Occitane has come a long way since 1976 when founder Olivier Baussan, then 23-years-old, began selling essential oil produced from wild rosemary and lavender at open-air markets in his native Provence.

Sold to venture capitalists and later listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, the cosmetics company has stores in 90 countries, 75 per cent of which were forced to close during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earlier this year, the US division of L'Occitane sought Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection in order to continue trading while restructuring internally and reducing its heavy store network.

The company has stayed silent on the closure of its Clapham Junctionbranch, but the 69% growth of its online sales set against a backdrop in which physical stores could not open means it is, in all likelihood, a strategic decision. It would not be the first L'Occitane to close in the UK for lack of footfall, nor the first store on St John's Road to fall victim to the rise of e-commerce.

Both Blacks Outdoors, the camping and equipment brand, and the barber shop, Jacks of London, sit empty.

Clapham Nub News has contacted L'Occitane for further information.

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