Cosmetics pioneer Yves Rocher dies at 79
Last Updated: Monday, December 28, 2009 | 5:11 PM ET
The Associated Press
Yves Rocher, French founder of a global chain of beauty products and a pioneering advocate of the use of plants and other natural elements in cosmetics, has died in Paris at age 79, officials said.
Rocher, who died Saturday, is to be buried Wednesday in the Brittany town of La Gacilly, where he was born and served as mayor from 1962 to 1988, according to the town's website.
Inspired by the herbs and plants of his native region, Rocher founded the company that bears his name in 1959 as a mail-order company. He transformed it into one of France's most well-known beauty brands, with annual sales of $2.88 billion US and 2,000 stores worldwide.
President Nicolas Sarkozy paid homage to Rocher in a release, calling him "a great French industrialist, inventor of plant-based cosmetics and a pioneer of mail-order sales."
The Groupe Yves Rocher also owns other brands, including children's apparel company Petit Bateau.
Rocher's 31-year-old grandson, Bris, will succeed his grandfather at the company's head, French newspapers reported.
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