Many of the global operations outside the UK were founded via joint venture agreements between Lush and third parties. In 1996, a joint venture agreement was signed to expand the cosmetics operation to North America. This began by opening stores in Canada and six years after the initial move into the North American market, Lush opened its first store in the United States. A similar arrangement saw the launch of Lush Australia in 1997 when the first store opened in the country.