Value fashion retailer Primark was founded in Ireland in 1969 under the name Penneys, a name it still trades under in Ireland. As of September 2019, all its product operations were consolidated at its Dublin headquarters. Its business model relies on quality fast fashion at unbeatably low prices. The retailer operates over 350 stores worldwide with international expansion as its priority. It does not operate a transactional website or app, setting it apart from other retailers. Its IT strategy is instead focused on international expansion and social media marketing, including its ‘Primania’ platform that launched in 2014. While the platform is no longer available, Primark still uses the same name as a hashtag. In 2019, Primark opened its biggest store in Birmingham, featuring cafés, a blow-dry bar, and personalisation station. Primark continues to open more stores and is seen as an anchor for new shopping centres.
Where and how will the post-pandemic consumer want to shop? Retail Week unpacks the data.
Shoppers filled their baskets with the latest styles as well as staples at Primark when the retailer reopened, signalling hopes of a return to more normal life post-pandemic.
Primark’s parent company Associated British Foods has said it plans to repay money claimed on the government job retention scheme as its reopened stores rebounded last week.
Retail Week looks at how the entrepreneur and philanthropist built a transatlantic empire and changed the face of the industry.
The UK-born retail entrepreneur and philanthropist W Galen Weston, whose empire spanned food, retail and real estate, has died at the age of 80.
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