e financial year ending June 2015, on top of the previous FY’s impressive growth of 45 per cent. However, since launching in Australia in 1997, it’s been something of a rollercoaster ride for the business. Five years ago, the business suffered a loss of over $5 million and considered closing, Lush director, Peta Granger, told Inside Retail Weekly. “We were given a strong ultimatum that we were to turn it around quickly or we’d have to close down,” Granger recounted. “We realised that one of the fundamental flaws that we’d been making was that we failed to communicate properly with our staff.” So, over the next couple of years, Granger and Lush’s other director, Mark Lincoln, focused on employing passionate people who aligned with the core values and ethics of the Lush brand. “Really listening to their opinions, then working through their ideas and using feedback to decide the business direction, then creating a very supportive community and allowing them to challenge the way that we do business,” Granger said of the new HR tact her and Lincoln took. “That really changed things around.” As well as an online shop, Lush presently has 28 stores throughout Australia, The most recent store opened in South Australia’s Westfield Marion on July 23, which saw over 250 people lining up from early morning eagerly awaiting its grand opening. Lush intends to open three to four more new stores in the remainder of 2015, the next of which is scheduled to open in Werribee in Melbourne on September 25. In 2016, another five stores are planning to be added, depending on which sites come up. Previously, the sites averaged 60-70sqm, whereas the newer Lush stores are moving toward a minimum of 100sqm. “We have an abundance of new products to release, so we need space,” Granger said with a smile. ‘Year of the new’ The next 12 months is a ‘year of the new’ for Lush. In early October, Lush will launch its Christmas range, showcasing more than 80 new limited edition products and gifts. In 2016 the business will roll out more than 200 products, mostly within the first half of the year. As well as new products, these will include many inventions: “Creating things we’ve not really done before,” Granger explained. “Such as cold pressed soaps; ‘showders’ – a powder to use in the shower; tooth powders; a co-wash, which is like a conditioner and a shampoo wash; and lots of new treatments for hand, hair and feet.” Current treatments are showcased at festivals – such as free hair washing at the popular Splendour in the Grass music festival, and at Sydney’s Gay Pride Fair Day – and promoted via social media. Social media offers strong growth potential for Lush, with its combined social media statistics for Australia (Facebook, Instagram and Twitter – the last two being shared with New Zealand) standing at 152,813 at the time of writing. The growing Australian database, which receives eDMs weekly, currently stands at more than 50,700. “Social media has been fantastic,” Granger concurred. “Such an amazing tool to be able to tell the public our story, tell them how the ingredients are sourced – [for example] our aloe vera [is] from a women’s co-op in Kenya, using permaculture methods.” Investment in such farming start-ups around the world, as well as ethically sourcing ingredients, are part of Lush’s corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, which also ensure that none of its ingredients are tested on animals, the reduction of environmental impact and packaging, and maintaining high ethical standards. This social conscience extends to the business’s award-winning employee wellbeing programs that include anonymous surveys of staff. “It’s been hugely influential in deciding the direction to take, what to train on, how to drive people and motivate them,” Granger said. Part of this is a focus on keeping communication channels open between the managers, who speak daily with customers and staff, and those at the top, making decisions. “This has at times stopped us from making bad decisions and really helped push through some nice dynamic changes – and that was the crux of turning the business around,” Granger explained. The business also aims to maintain a supportive and enabling environment for its team members. “Someone once said to me, ‘people don’t want to sell stuff, they want to belong to stuff’,” Granger said. “So that really influenced us in terms of trying to create a community in Lush that people want to be a part of.” Social issues form part of Lush’s goals that employees collaborate on, such as its recent marriage equality campaign. “LGBT rights are really important to us, and very much so to our staff. For example, last Valentine’s Day we featured one of our staff, Sarah, with her partner in the window. It’s quite beautiful the image and highlights the way we market.” Model staff The Lush LGBT campaign also reflects another business policy – not using models in marketing. All of the people featured in Lush’s online and physical campaigns are staff members, with no airbrushing or photoshopping used. “Our staff are constantly pushing to try to present this broader image, rather than stereotypes,” Granger said with a smile. This also aligns with the business’s investment in fair trade and organic products. “Instead of a customer paying for packaging, celebrity endorsements and large advertising campaigns, we want them to pay for the ingredients they’re putting on their skin,” Granger said. Lush store décor and products feature fresh fruit and vegetables, essential oils and flowers. “It just naturally ends up looking like a bit of a delicatessen or a fresh fruit grocer,” Granger said of the presentation of Lush stores. The latest Lush stores incorporate reclaimed wood and have LED lighting all the way through, which is also in line with the environmentally aware standards of the business and the products it stocks.”