Primark bets heavily on retail stores and shuns online

The Irish fashion and accessories retailer will open 130 stores within five years.

Irish fashion and accessories retailer Primark confirms plans to aggressively develop its retail network despite the pandemic and the exodus of shoppers to online stores across the country. Associated British Foods, which owns the brand, said that Primark’s retail network would grow from 400 to 530 stores within five years. 

Specifically, in the U.S., the retailer will increase the number of stores from 13 to 60 stores in the U.S. Primark currently operates in 14 countries and employs over 71,000 people. Earlier in September 2021, the retailer unveiled a new sustainability strategy for Primark Cares. 

Unlike its major competitors, Primark still does not focus on online sales, relying heavily on physical retail. At the end of 2020, amidst the closure of multiple retail stores worldwide, the company lost about 2.7 billion dollars.   

At the same time, the stores of one of the largest British retailers continue to change and look for ways out of the crisis. For example, there have beeb range  expansion over the past few years by launching licensed merchandise from Disney, Netflix NFLX, and Warner Brothers.

Over the past year, Primark has opened four stores in the U.S. and launched new outlets in the UK, Poland, the Netherlands, the Czech Republic, Spain, Italy, and France.