Ireland’s Primark Raises U.S. Profile With Manhattan Flagship

For Primark, the Dublin-based fashion chain with the razor-sharp values, it’s a milestone moment in the U.S.

The retailer will open a four-level flagship on 34th Street on Friday — between Sixth and Seventh Avenues and smack opposite the Macy’s Herald Square flagship. The opening is Primark’s 40th store in the U.S. and the retailer’s most important and highest profile store in the States. Primark entered the U.S. in 2015.

The location, at 150 West 34th Street, should go a long way to raise the retailer’s profile. “We are just not always top of mind for consumers — yet. That’s the opportunity that’s ahead,” said Kevin Tulip, president of Primark in the U.S., during a tour of the flagship.

To support the opening, Primark triggered its biggest marketing campaign yet. “For a company that has done very little marketing historically, we’ve really gone all out here,” said Tulip. Billboards, mass transit, social media, even some cheeky ads near the Met Gala which happened on a Monday — saying “the real event” happens Friday — have all been part of the program.

“There are definitely things we did in New York that we haven’t done anywhere else,” Tulip said.

He’s confident the store will generate strong sales and traffic, and there’s good reason considering the daily crowds in the neighborhood. “We’re ready for it to be our biggest volume store. We’re obviously in the middle of Manhattan so we’ll have everyone from locals to commuters, to domestic and international tourists here. And at 54,000 square feet of selling space, and 75,000 square feet overall, it’s big. We’ve got our full product range here — all of our great fashion and all of our great everyday essentials.” The store sells women’s — Primark’s largest volume business — as well as men’s, kids and home.

Tulip declined to comment on its projected volume, but sources have told WWD that the store is seen generating around $100 million.

Primark’s strength lies in delivering fashion at very low prices, undercutting competitors like H&M, Zara and Uniqlo, and presenting heavily merchandised floors. The great majority of Primark’s merchandise is private label, though there is a wide range of licensed merchandise revolving around sports, music and pop culture, including Disney characters, the New York Knicks, Britney Spears, and a recently launched KPop Demon Hunters range with Netflix.

“Ten dollars would be about our average price,” Tulip said. “We’ve got entry price points at $4 for a cami and $4 and $5 for shorts. Some of the favorite items [for shoppers] are our $3.50 swim separates. We’re starting to get famous for these things. These are what people come back for, time and time again. Everyday essentials are like 60 percent of our total product range.”

Tulip was joined by Mary Lucas, trading director of women’s and men’s wear and men’s accessories, and Claire Taaffe, corporate affairs director, for a store tour that started at the main entrance on 34th Street. (There’s also an entrance on 33rd Street.)

First up is the ladies trend area, featuring a summer collection under the name of Paula Echevarria, a Spanish influencer and actress. “It’s very coordinated, and of-the-moment in terms of trend and the key colors,” said Lucas. “With the store opening tomorrow, we’ll do very well with anything that’s coordinated, whether that’s a woven top for $12 or a $14 trouser. We’ll flip [the ladies trend area] out every four weeks so there’s constant newness and interest for the consumer. In Ireland and the U.K., they probably come in every week. It’s less frequent in the U.S., but it’s gaining momentum here.”

Next up is the contemporary area, with balloon trousers, peplums, cinched jersey shirts and embroidered blouses with fringes among some key looks.

Further into the store are commodity-oriented essentials, then the Primark Edits section for styles in more premium fabrics such as cashmere, linen and satin at slightly higher prices; a denim section with the popular barrel-leg, wide-leg and jogger jeans as well as skinny jeans, which are still the bestseller.

Other areas in the store feature workout wear and the “Primark Scene” featuring styles for tween girls.

Architecturally, the store retains many of the features of the Old Navy store that formerly occupied the site, namely the large skylight, the brushed concrete floor, and the high, exposed ceilings lending an industrial look.

The store has clearly visible signage designating categories and spotlighting the low, low prices. “We use a lot of navigation on the walls, and then obviously, we want our prices to pop as well,” said Tulip.

The selling floor is also distinguished by curved “floating” display walls on wheels enabling Primark to be agile either maximizing or minimalizing items or categories depending on selling trends. “Everything is on wheels,” said Tulip. “We want this to be a very dynamic space for our team. If we find that ladies trend merchandise is doing double what we expected, we’ll give it double the space.”

The 34th Street store uses a more elevated approach compared with other U.S. Primarks. “The materials we’ve used, the signage package — we’ve got music playing in the store. There’s a lot of enhancements, because it’s a flagship and because it’s Manhattan. You’ll find product in here that we wouldn’t have in a more standard regional mall store.”

He said Primark has been opening 10 to 12 stores per year in the States, though he’s not bound by any goal for openings. “Cautious growth is our approach,” said Tulip.

Of Primark’s 40 units in the U.S., a small number are downtown locations, mostly in the Northeast. “We’re really focused on the regional mall model, because that is where most spaces are available in the U.S. and on the Mills outlet-style malls as well.”

Could Primark open a second Manhattan location? “There are definitely other exciting parts of Manhattan,” said Tulip. “But there’s nothing in the works at the moment.”