10 things you need to know about Primark before it opens in Budapest

Since last January, we have known that the Primark It is coming to Hungary, and in the middle of the week the exact date of the opening was also announced: on May 28, at 10 a.m., their first domestic store will open its doors in the Aréna Mall. In the meantime, we have collected some interesting facts about the popular department store chain.

1. The first ones

Irish businessman Arthur Ryan opened the company’s first store on Mary Street in Dublin in 1969, which is still operating today after 55 years. The first foreign store was opened in 1973 in Derby, United Kingdom. Outside of the British Isles, however, the brand only started expanding in 2006: their first such store was opened in Madrid. Their first overseas store was opened in Boston in 2015.

2. It is not called that everywhere

The original name of the department store chain was Penney’s, and it still operates under this name in Ireland. The brand adopted the Primark name when expanding abroad, precisely because the American company JC Penney had already registered the Penney brand name in the United Kingdom.

3. The 17th market

Primark is currently present in 16 countries and operates more than 400 stores, Hungary will be the 17th market they enter. Their goal is to increase the number of their stores to 530 by 2026.

4. The employees

The company employs nearly 76,000 people worldwide. The Hungarian business will employ around 180 people.

5. The biggest

The world’s largest Primark store is located in Birmingham. The 5-story, 15,000-square-meter store is practically like an independent shopping center, with a Disney- and Hello Kitty-themed cafe, playhouse, and even a beauty salon.

6. That’s why it’s so cheap

The brand is able to sell its products significantly cheaper than its competitors in the fast fashion market because they only spend a minimal amount on advertising and on packaging and other accessories for the products – labels, hangers, etc. – they also try to save.

7. Sustainability

55 percent of the company’s clothes are already manufactured using materials from recycled or more sustainable sources, and their goal is to increase this ratio to 100 percent by 2030, while the carbon dioxide emissions of their value chain are halved.

8. The most successful product

The most successful product in the brand’s history was the Mrs. Potts and Csészike tea set, which was launched for the first time in 2017. 36,000 units of the cup were sold in a single day, and the product was sold out in every Primark store in every country within the first hour after opening.

9. Charity

Primark is donating unsold clothes in its European stores to the British charity Newlife.

10. Pronunciation

Many people pronounce the brand name incorrectly in non-Anglo-Saxon speaking areas. The correct way to pronounce Primark is: prai·maak.

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