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Fast-fashion giant Primark aims to expand significantly in the US.
It doesn’t offer online shopping so its success relies solely on its physical stores.
I went to the world’s biggest Primark spanning five floors, three cafes, and a beauty salon.
Primark plans to open dozens more stores in the US over the next five years. The cut-price chain doesn’t offer online shopping, so relies solely on its stores even as more consumers buy online.
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I took a trip to the world’s biggest Primark in Birmingham, about a 90 minute train ride from London. The store was located right on the main shopping street of Britain’s second-largest city.
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This was the main window display. Unlike other stores, the display at Primark didn’t seem very theatrical – it simply focused on the clothes and their super-low prices.
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The other entrance, which I went in – and which leads directly from one of the city’s train stations – didn’t have quite as much curb appeal.
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I’d never been in such a big Primark before. It was spread over five floors and included three places to eat as well as a barbers, a hair and beauty salon, and a custom t-shirt printing lab – all things I’ve never spotted at a Primark store before.
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The store had high ceilings and a muted color pallet with blue accents. Throughout the store were nods to its Birmingham location.
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It was much tidier than any other Primark I’d ever been to – though perhaps this was because I got there at 11 a.m. on a Wednesday.
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Some of the displays were still a little scruffy, though.
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This underwear display, for example, was a mess.
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It had plenty of jeans on offer.
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The store also sold homewares.
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There is a large makeup and beauty section.
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It even has luggage.
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The was also a small range of electrical goods.
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Dotted throughout the store were mannequins with a variety of fun hairstyles, including these by the main entrance.
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Behind them was a section dedicated to “trending” items, which included mainly green and black clothes with some splashes of bright red and blue.
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Another display upstairs was dedicated to neons. The vast majority of items, though, weren’t displayed on mannequins and instead were stacked on shelves or hung on rails.
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Primark is known as a cheap place for branded merchandise. The Birmingham store probably had enough Disney stock to fill a Disney store.
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These included branded bedding, notebooks, water bottles, skincare products, underwear, and make-up brushes.
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There were also Looney Tunes items, too, in pastel shades, although Disney dominated.
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I also spotted Ed Sheeran t-shirts, NASA sweaters, and Rolling Stones tops and cushions. There were MTV, “Harry Potter,” “SpongeBob,” and “Simpsons” items, too.
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There was even an NBA section.
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But the strangest was definitely Primark’s huge display of clothing and accessories celebrating its collaboration with Greggs, a UK bakery chain. The stock ranged from bucket hats and bags to shorts, shoes, and underwear with the company’s logo and sausage roll motifs on them.
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The Greggs collaboration took up a huge amount of shop space.
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People are buying it. Later that day I saw a shopper with two pairs of Greggs shoes in his bag, while a few days later I saw a man wearing a Greggs t-shirt, shorts, shoes, and bucket hat.
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The branded content didn’t end on the shop floor. The store also had a Disney-themed cafe.
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The decor and soundtrack were both Disney-themed.
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The menu wasn’t not Disney-themed, however. I was told that prices were actually £0.25 to £0.30 ($0.30 to $0.36) higher than those listed on the menu. My meal came to £10.65 ($12.78) for a vegetable wrap, side of coleslaw, and a drink, which I thought was reasonable. The food wasn’t anything special, but I can imagine that the decor would be enough to lure families to Primark just to eat at the cafe.
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If you weren’t in the mood for more Disney, there was also a huge Greggs – its biggest site when it opened in February with capacity for 130 hungry shoppers.
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Source: The Birmingham Mail
It has doughnut-shaped booths and a special evening menu with pie and mash and jacket potatoes.
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This is despite there being a standalone Greggs store just a few feet away.
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And if you didn’t fancy that, there was a third, much plainer cafe that appeared to just sell drinks and cake.
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Compared to the other two, it didn’t seem very inspiring.
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As you’d expect, the store sold a range of clothes at bargain prices, like fake leather jackets at £14 ($16.80).
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It also had jeans for just £10 ($12).
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Flip-flips could be had for £0.90, or just over $1. “We are, of course, obsessed by price at Primark,” the CEO of its parent company said on its earnings call in April. “We always have been, we always will be.”
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Some items were reduced, making them even cheaper.
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These shoes were down to £3 ($3.60) a pair. Some of the displays were a bit muddled, though, with both discounted and full-price items displayed together.
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The beauty section featured a huge range of products, from staples like toothbrushes and makeup wipes to electronics, “Harry Potter”-branded items, and £3 ($3.60) mascara.
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There was also a small branch of the Fragrance Shop nestled among the Primark-branded items. The chain has more than 200 stores across the UK, but I’d never seen one inside a clothes store before.
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Source: The Fragrance Store
As well as a barbers downstairs, there was a beauty salon ran by a company called Rawr Beauty, which operates salons in five other Primark stores as well as three Asda supermarkets.
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The Birmingham salon offers haircuts, manicures, and brow and lash tints.
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The homeware section was beautifully curated. It featured products you’d expect from Primark, like mugs, photo frames, and a huge range of scented candles.
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There were also more functional items like pans, duvets, and toilet brushes. It even sold “100% Brummie” mugs, using the nickname given to Birmingham residents, and Chrissy Teigen’s recipe book. I’d never noticed books for sale in Primark before.
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Some of its was laid out like an Ikea store.
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There was also a lab where you could order custom-printed t-shirts.
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Throughout the store there seemed to be a big focus on sustainability, which surprised me given Primark’s reputation as a fast-fashion giant. Some of the tags said that products were made from organic, recycled, or sustainable cotton.
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There was a whole area dedicated to “Primark Wellness,” which I’d never heard of before. The focus seemed to be on items that were good for the planet as well as things that promoted wellbeing.
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There were clothes, bedding, beauty products, and scented oils.
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I also spotted toilet brushes, a yoga gift set, and AirPod cases.
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Everything in this area was displayed beautifully, with some items in wooden cabinets and wicker baskets. It definitely didn’t feel like being in Primark.
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There were also glass displays where Primark touted what it was doing to make its products more sustainable.
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I spotted a couple of strange errors in the store. This suitcase, for example, only had its price displayed in euros.
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Every pair of these shoes I saw had the price pulled off their label.
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Ultimately the Primark was very different to any one I’d ever been to before – much tidier and with a whole suite of extra services I’d never seen before, although the scale was quite overwhelming. By adding the cafes, beauty salon, and Disney merchandise throughout, Primark has turned the store into a destination, and I can imagine shoppers actually heading here for a day out.
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