Latest / What the Flux / Lush’s big breakup with Westfield

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Lush’s big breakup with Westfield · What the Flux

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: This is What The Flux Unpacked, where we go deeper
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  Speaker 1: into one of the juiciest business stories of the week.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Brett.
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  Speaker 2: And I'm Larissa, and today we're unpacking Lush Cosmetics, the
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  Speaker 2: bath bomb maker who's cutting ties with Australia's largest shopping landlord.
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  Speaker 2: But first, here are the three top stories for Friday
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  Speaker 2: the 16th of October. For our first story, more Aussie
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  Speaker 2: adults are investing than ever before, with around 2.5 million
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  Speaker 2: people getting into the investing game since 2020, according to
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  Speaker 2: a new ASX survey. For our second story, the ACCC
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  Speaker 2: has launched an investigation into alleged cartel conduct among some
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  Speaker 2: of Australia's largest egg producers, claiming 12 egg companies have
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  Speaker 2: been coordinating on business decisions since 2020. For our third story,
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  Speaker 2: Netflix is cutting around 6% of its staff or 1,000
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  Speaker 2: jobs around the world after struggling to boost subscriber engagement
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  Speaker 2: on the streaming platform. Brett, when was the last time
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  Speaker 2: you purchased a bath bomb?
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  Speaker 1: A bath bomb? I think more than 25 years ago.
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  Speaker 2: 25 years ago?
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  Speaker 1: Honestly, never think about bath bombs.
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  Speaker 2: It's one of those things I always used to get
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  Speaker 2: in my stocking at Christmas time. Chances are, if you
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  Speaker 2: were gifted a bath bomb, it probably came from a
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  Speaker 2: company called Lush Cosmetics.
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  Speaker 1: Have you heard of them? So I've heard of them.
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  Speaker 1: but I actually don't know what they do.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so they're a cosmetics brand that's pretty well known
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  Speaker 2: for having quirky soap products. I remember going into the
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  Speaker 2: mall when I was in high school and they'd always
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  Speaker 2: have weird things out on display. I always used to
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  Speaker 2: go back after school to get this toothpaste, but it
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  Speaker 2: was just a strip that you'd put on your teeth
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  Speaker 2: and it would fizz up in your mouth and be
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  Speaker 2: like chocolate flavoured or something strange.
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  Speaker 1: So I assume Lush has been in the headlines this week,
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  Speaker 1: is that right? Yes, they have.
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  Speaker 2: Lush Cosmetics is pulling all of its stores out of
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  Speaker 2: Westfield shopping centres across Australia.
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  Speaker 1: Okay, so as someone who, like me, I have heard
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  Speaker 1: of them, but I haven't really been able to recall
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  Speaker 1: exactly what they do. Give me a quick rundown on Lush.
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  Speaker 2: Okay, so Lush is a British cosmetics company whose founder
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  Speaker 2: actually invented the bath bomb back in 1989. Lush now
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  Speaker 2: has 870 stores around the world and they're pretty big
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  Speaker 2: in Australia too.
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  Speaker 1: How big we talking?
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  Speaker 2: They opened their first store in Australia back in 1997
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  Speaker 2: and now they currently operate 25 stores around the country.
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  Speaker 1: I can see that Lush actually says on its website
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  Speaker 1: that Lush is like a campaigning organisation fronted by a
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  Speaker 1: soap shop. Any idea what they mean by that?
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  Speaker 2: So basically they mean they're more than just the products
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  Speaker 2: that they sell. I trawled their website. They have an
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  Speaker 2: in real life campaigning track record that goes all the
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  Speaker 2: way back to 2006.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting. So what did they do back then?
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  Speaker 2: Their first campaign started when they dumped two tons of
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  Speaker 2: manure outside the European Parliament. protest animal testing rules. In 2008,
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  Speaker 2: they hung a staff member from hooks in a shop
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  Speaker 2: window against shark finning. In 2012, they put a woman
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  Speaker 2: in their London shop window to be experimented on in
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  Speaker 2: front of shoppers to make a statement against animal testing.
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  Speaker 1: And what did they do in 2021? I remember something
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  Speaker 1: may have happened.
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  Speaker 2: Around In 2021, Lush took the brand off Instagram, Facebook,
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  Speaker 2: TikTok and Snapchat. And that was because they were citing
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  Speaker 2: social media's harmful impact on young people's mental health.
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  Speaker 1: And more recently?
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  Speaker 2: Just last year in October 2025, here in Australia, Lush
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  Speaker 2: shut doors, shut its website and shut its Sydney factory
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  Speaker 2: for a whole day in protest over conflict in the
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  Speaker 2: Middle East. And get this, some Westfield centres covered up
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  Speaker 2: some of those protest signs that they put up in
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  Speaker 2: their Westfield stores.
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  Speaker 1: That's actually very interesting. So now I've got a sense
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  Speaker 1: of what Lush has done in the past and who
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  Speaker 1: the brand is. Now, if we fast forward a year,
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  Speaker 1: why is Lush in the news again right now?
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  Speaker 2: Well, this time not for hanging anyone in their window.
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  Speaker 2: But this week, Lush announced it won't renew its 10
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  Speaker 2: leases with Westfield. So over the next three years, it'll
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  Speaker 2: be closing stores around big hubs in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane
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  Speaker 2: and Perth. Its standalone high street stores won't be going
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  Speaker 2: anywhere and its shops and regional shopping centres will stay put.
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  Speaker 2: And customers can still buy products online and through the app.
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  Speaker 1: Interesting. Has this got anything to do with the sign
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  Speaker 1: saga last year?
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  Speaker 2: Well, Lush hasn't said anything about this being connected, but
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  Speaker 2: what they have said is they're focusing on serving local
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  Speaker 2: communities in the right locations. And they told Nine News,
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  Speaker 2: Lush is at its best when it reflects not just
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  Speaker 2: the skin and hair care needs of local communities, but
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  Speaker 2: amplifies community values and aspirations.
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  Speaker 1: Very interesting. So take what you want from that. What
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  Speaker 1: would you say is the key learning here with Lush?
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  Speaker 2: Well, if your shop is your ad, you want to
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  Speaker 2: be able to control the billboard. Lush has built its
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  Speaker 2: entire personality on taking an ethical stand on these big
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  Speaker 2: issues like animal rights, sustainability, human rights.
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  Speaker 1: It does sound like physical stores are a huge part
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  Speaker 1: of that. Massive.
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  Speaker 2: Lush isn't actually on the big social media platforms like
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  Speaker 2: we said earlier, and it's been phasing out its Google
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  Speaker 2: paid ads entirely this year.
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  Speaker 1: So if Lush is taking an offline approach, why would
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  Speaker 1: they start ditching their in-person physical locations as well?
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  Speaker 2: Lush isn't removing in-person stores, it's moving them to places
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  Speaker 2: that they can control. Renting in a big shopping centre
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  Speaker 2: for a company is a bit like renting a billboard
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  Speaker 2: on the busiest highway, where you get lots of eyeballs,
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  Speaker 2: but the landlord sets the rules. Centre, which owns Westfield,
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  Speaker 2: reported in 2024 that roughly 17 cents of every dollar
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  Speaker 2: goes on rents and costs. But that means there are
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  Speaker 2: rules too. Landlords set the trading hours, the fit-outs, the
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  Speaker 2: marketing levies.
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  Speaker 1: And they can cover up signs that they don't like
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  Speaker 1: as well.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. On the high street, there is less foot traffic,
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  Speaker 2: but you control your shop, your hours and your window.
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  Speaker 1: So Lush is taking the high road on the high street.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. And with 87% of Aussies saying they're more likely
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  Speaker 2: to buy ethical products, it might work in their favor
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  Speaker 2: to have more control over their stores.
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  Speaker 1: So essentially, Lush is banking on what they call an
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  Speaker 1: ethical strategy, integral to their identity. It will be interesting
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  Speaker 1: to see if this is a move that customers really
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  Speaker 1: get behind or if pulling out of some of the
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  Speaker 1: biggest shopping centres in Australia means that Lush is out
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  Speaker 1: of sight, out of mind.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah. Will it impact your bath bomb buying habits?
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  Speaker 1: Maybe I need to get back into the bath bombs.
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  Speaker 2: Flux fam, thanks for listening to our first episode of
• 6:14
  Speaker 2: What The Flux Unpacked. We'll be back in your ears
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  Speaker 2: on Wednesday with the business news you need to know.
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  Speaker 1: Have a wonderful weekend and see you on Wednesday.