Description
Primark Stores Limited is an Irish multinational fast fashion retailer with headquarters in Dublin, Ireland, with outlets across Europe and in the United States. The original Penneys brand is not used outside of Ireland because it is owned elsewhere by American retailer J. C. Penney.
History
The company's first store, named Penneys and still in operation today, was established by Arthur Ryan in June 1969 on behalf of the Weston family (who had founded Associated British Foods in 1935) at 47 Mary Street in Dublin. The first major stores outside of Dublin were opened in the cities of Cork and Belfast in 1971.
The company subsequently expanded outside of Ireland and into Great Britain, opening a store in Derby in 1973. The company could not use the name "Penneys" in Europe outside Ireland, as it was registered by J. C. Penney. The name "Primark" was then invented to use outside Ireland. The company continues to use the Penneys brand in Ireland.
In 2005, Primark bought UK retailer Littlewoods's retail stores for £409 million, retaining 40 of the 119 stores and selling the rest.
In May 2006, the first Primark store in mainland Europe opened in Madrid, Spain. In December 2008, Primark opened in the Netherlands, followed by Portugal, Germany and Belgium in 2009, Austria in 2012, France in 2013, and Italy in 2014.
Primark opened its current headquarters in 2015 in a redeveloped Dublin building, Arthur Ryan House, formerly Chapel House.
In 2015, Primark opened its first United States store in Boston, later expanding into New York City, Philadelphia, Danbury and Chicago. Having built a chain of around 40 stores in Spain, Primark opened a second store in Madrid in October 2015, its second-biggest in the world. The largest Primark store opened in Birmingham on 11 April 2019, occupying the former Pavilions Shopping Centre of 161,000 sq ft (15,000 m2), with five floors including a beauty salon, Disney-themed café and a barbershop, and adding the largest Greggs fast-food outlet in the world in February 2022. On 13 June 2019, Primark expanded to Slovenia with a store in Ljubljana.
On 23 March 2020, Primark temporarily closed its 189 UK stores, as a result of government restrictions during the COVID-19 outbreak. Its 153 stores in England re-opened on 15 June 2020. As a result of the lockdown, the company reported a sales loss of £430 million.
On 10 August 2020, Primark opened the first store in Poland in Galeria Młociny, Warsaw, later expanding into Poznań. In June 2021, Primark opened the first store in the Czech Republic in Prague, occupying the area of 50,590 sq ft (4,700 m2) and serving as a flagship store for the region of Central and Eastern Europe.
In 2021, Primark unveiled a sustainability strategy that sets targets to reduce textile waste, halving CO2 emissions and improving the life of Primark workers.
On 15 December 2022, Primark opened its first store in Romania, in Bucharest. On 20 June 2023, Primark opened its second store in Bucharest.
In November 2022, Primark announced it was going online with a new click-and-collect service. This announcement came after the company lost more than £1 billion in sales during the Covid-19 pandemic, when its stores had to be closed, while the competitors with online stores had smaller or no financial losses. The click-and-collect service was launched as a trial in 25 stores in north-west England, Yorkshire and north Wales for children's products only. However, on the day of launch of the new service, the company's website crashed, causing the issues for people trying to access it.
Primark is expected to open its first store in Hungary, Budapest, in the Arena Mall in autumn 2023.
