French beauty brand Yves Rocher is highlighting its botanical heritage with a new identity and store redesign. Montreal’s Eaton Centre location was the first in North America to be transformed, reopened on May 22.

Now called Atelier of Botanical Beauty, the new store has three areas: the Botanical Greenhouse, a market-style shop; the Botanical Laboratory, housing ‘performance products’ such as anti-aging skin care; and the Botanical Beauty Spa, offering plant-based spa services.

‘[Now] when the customer comes in, she understands that Yves Rocher is more than a beauty company; We are ourselves harvesters, manufacturers and distributors of our products,’ explains Christina Hane, director of communications at Longueuil, QC-based Yves Rocher North America.

The rebranding, which came from the France HQ and agency Saguez & Partners, includes a new logo. The company is spreading the word via direct mail and email blasts sent to its database of half a million North American customers (all creative done in-house), as well as hosting grand openings.

Yves Rocher plans on converting all 1,600 stores worldwide by 2012, including its 68 Canadian locations in Quebec, Ontario and New Brunswick. In Canada, six more stores will change over within the year.