Primark

Primark Stores Ltd.

Native name	Primark
Type	Subsidiary
Industry	Retail
Founded	Dublin, Ireland (June 1969 (1969-06))
Headquarters	Dublin, Ireland
Number of locations	270 Stores (2015)[1]
Area served	Western Europe
Products	Clothing Homeware Cosmetics
Revenue	£4,273m (Financial Year 2012/2013)
Net income	£514m (Financial Year 2012/2013)
Number of employees	51,250
Parent	Associated British Foods
Website	primark.com

Primark is an Irish clothing retailer operating in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland (branded as Penneys in Ireland), Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and soon the United States.^[2][3] It was founded and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. The company's international headquarters is registered in Ireland.^[4] Its UK operations are registered in England and Wales.^[5][6] Primark is a subsidiary of international food, ingredients and retail group Associated British Foods. Primark was first opened by Arthur Ryan in June 1969 in Mary Street, Dublin under the name Penneys.^[7] It became apparent that more stores were required and another four were added to the chain.

Further expansion and success in Ireland dictated the move to the United Kingdom, and, in 1971, it opened a large store in Belfast City Centre before opening four out of town stores in England in 1973.^[8]

In October 2011, Primark opened its first concession model. Primark is now stocked in Selfridges department stores in Trafford Centre, Manchester, The Bull Ring, Birmingham and Oxford Street, London and now King's Lynn, Norfolk ^[9]

Market position

Primark sells fashionable clothes at the low cost end of the market.

Primark's products

All of the company's merchandise is made specifically for the company and as such Primark has its own brand names. Primark offer a diverse range of products, stocking everything from new born and kids clothing, to womenswear, menswear, home ware, accessories, footwear, beauty products and confectionery.

Issues

Working practices

In 2006, Primark joined the Ethical Trading Initiative, a collaborative organisation bringing together businesses, trades unions and NGOs to work on labour rights issues in their supply chains.^[10] ETI members commit to working towards the implementation of a code of conduct based on the International Labour Organisation's core conventions.

In December 2008, the UK charity War on Want launched a new report, Fashion Victims II, that showed terms and conditions had not improved in Bangladeshi factories supplying Primark, two years after the charity first visited them.^[11]

On 9 January 2009, a supplier was forced by ETI to remove its branding from Primark stores and websites following a BBC/The Observer investigation into the employment practices. The investigation alleged use of illegal immigrant labour which was paid less than the UK legal minimum wage.^[12]

On 16 June 2011 the BBC Trust's Editorial Standards Committee (ESC) published its findings into a Panorama programme^[13] 'Primark: On the Rack', broadcast in June 2008. This programme was an undercover investigative documentary examining poor working conditions in Indian factories supplying Primark. Although Primark subsequently stopped doing business with the Indian supplier, the ESC concluded that footage in the programme was 'more likely than not' to have been fabricated.^[14] The ESC directed the BBC to make an on-air apology and to ensure that the programme was not repeated or sold to other broadcasters. Primark created a specific website to deal with the issues around the programme.^[15]

in 2011 Primark achieved ‘Leader’ status in the Ethical Trade Initiative (ETI). This puts Primark in the top 5% of all ETI members and this is a position that has been upheld to date.

Building collapse at Savar

On 24 April 2013, the eight-story Rana Plaza commercial building collapsed in Savar, a sub-district near Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. At least 1,127 people died and over 2,438 were injured.^[16] The factory housed a number of separate garment factories employing around 5,000 people, several shops, and a bank^[17] and manufactured apparel for brands including the Benetton Group, Joe Fresh,^[18] The Children's Place, Primark, Monsoon, and DressBarn.^[19][20] Primark paid $200 compensation and emergency aid to the victims of the collapse, a move which was welcomed by Oxfam,^[21] and committed to review the structural integrity of buildings making its clothes.^[22]

Of the 29 brands identified as having sourced products from the Rana Plaza factories, only 9 attended meetings held in November 2013 to agree a proposal on compensation to the victims. Several companies refused to sign including Walmart, Carrefour, Bonmarché, Mango, Auchan and Kik. The agreement was signed by Primark, Loblaw, Bonmarche and El Corte Ingles.^[23]

SOS Note Hoax

In June 2014, a customer from Ireland found an SOS note in the pocket of trousers she had bought from a Primark store in Belfast several years earlier.^[24] The letter was written in Chinese and also contained a prison ID card. The letter alleged that the author was forced to work "like oxen" making fashion clothes for export for 15 hours per day, and the food they were given wouldn't be fit for dogs or pigs.

A few days later, Primark claimed the label, and several others found in items in a store in Swansea, were a hoax.^[25]

Stores

Primark expanded rapidly in the UK in the mid-2000s. In 2005 they bought the Littlewoods chain for £409m,^[26] retaining 40 of the 119 stores and selling the rest. They opened in the Meadowhall Centre in mid-2007.^[27]

In May 2006, the first Primark store outside Ireland and the UK opened in Madrid, Spain. In December 2008, Primark opened its first stores in the Netherlands, followed in 2009 by its first stores in Portugal, Germany and Belgium. Primark opened its first store in Austria on 27 September 2012 in Innsbruck, this was followed by another store in Vienna which opened in October 2012.

The largest Primark store in the world is located on Market Street, Manchester, England occupying 155,000 sq ft (14,400 m²) of retail space, spread over three floors. The Market Street store recently completed a full store refurbishment and extension to add an extra 50,000 sq ft (4,600 m²) of retail space to the ground and first floors.^[1][28]

Country	Number of Stores Trading as of 28 April 2015
United Kingdom	167
Spain	40
Ireland	37
Germany	18
Netherlands	12
Portugal	8
France	5
Austria	3
Belgium	2

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Primark.

• Primark Ireland
• Primark UK
• Primark Germany
• Primark Portugal
• Primark Spain

Associated British Foods Current operations AB Agri Ltd Abitec Corporation Abitec Ltd Argo cornstarch Allied Mills Allinson British Sugar Frontier (50%) G Costa George Weston Foods Illovo Sugar Kingsmill Mozolo oil Ovaltine (except USA) Patak's Primark Ryvita Silver Spoon Sunblest Twinings Former operations Burton's Biscuits Dairy Wrap Produce Fine Fare Kingsway Fresh Foods Lifestyle Sports Power Supermarkets Limited Stewarts Supermarkets Limited People W. Garfield Weston Garry Weston George G. Weston Guy Weston Other Garfield Weston Foundation George Weston Limited Wittington Investments Category