Primark celebrates 50 years on the Great British high street

Primark is celebrating half a century on the British high street, 50 years since it first opened its doors on 26th September 1974 at Babington Lane, Derby, the site of the first Primark store in Great Britain.

Reflecting on the milestone, Kari Rodgers, UK Retail Director for Primark, said: “Over the last 50 years, British high streets and style have changed a lot and Primark has been there every step of the way.  While we’ve evolved through the decades, our mission of helping people look and feel good for less remains as relevant today as it was then. We’ve paved the way for great quality, affordable fashion for everyone and I’m so grateful for the loyalty our amazing colleagues and customers have shown us. To still be proudly on the high street and growing is testament to them and we’re excited for what the next 50 years brings.”

To mark the anniversary, Primark is hosting a special celebration for customers and colleagues past and present in Derby, back where it all began. Across the country, Primark store windows will feature images of the brand through the ages.

Half a century on the high street

Having started life here with just one store in Derby 50 years ago, Primark today has 185 stores across Britain, employs more than 30,000 colleagues and serves millions of customers every week, making clothing affordable and accessible to everyone.

It was this founding mission that drove founder Arthur Ryan to open Primark’s very first store, Penneys, in Dublin in 1969, which remains the Irish brand name to this day.

As Penneys won the hearts of Irish shoppers, Mr Ryan saw an opportunity in the British market and took over a grocery store Fine Fare, owned by its parent company ABF. Although the name changed to Primark (which remains one of the company’s most asked questions), the store had the same aim of offering women’s, men’s and kids’ clothing at unbeatable prices.

From day one it was a hit, with shoppers queuing around the block: Opening offers included women’s tweed coats for £9.50, printed crepe blouses for 99p and briefs for 25p. Across menswear, V-neck Shetland sweaters were sold for £2.85, poly-cotton shirts for 99p and socks for 23p. Kidswear highlights included slacks for 99p, ‘car coats’ for £1.99 and pinafore dresses for £1.65.

Things quickly grew from there. Stores in Bristol and Northampton followed shortly after, before the first store in Scotland opened in Hamilton in 1975 – a store that remains Primark’s smallest UK store today – and Newport in Wales the following year. Ten years later in 1986, Primark finally arrived in London with its Woolwich store.

The 90s saw sharp growth as it moved into new stores acquired from other retailers including C&A, BHS and Co-op Living. But it was in 2005 when it took over Littlewoods, adding 41 new Primark stores, that it became a household name and regular fixture on high streets and in major towns and cities nationwide.

During the 2000s, Primark developed a cult following among fashionistas, as it became the go-to destination where shoppers could pick up the latest high fashion looks at high street prices. It first graced the fashion pages of Vogue in 2005 with its sell-out military jacket. In 2007, the opening of Primark on Oxford Street cemented its place in British high street fashion, with thousands of shoppers queuing on opening day. A second flagship store opened at the other end of Oxford Street, near Tottenham Court Road, five years later.

The Primark way

Primark has always been a big believer in physical stores, and today Primark is located across high streets, shopping centres and retail parks across the country. A recent survey showed 2.3 million people said that visiting Primark was their main reason for visiting their local high street every week.*

Over the years, many of these stores have grown into true retail destinations offering a broad array of services and experiences to customers. Today many larger stores have beauty studios and nail salons, barbers, vintage clothing concessions and a wide choice of destination cafes – including Tasty by Greggs, Disney and other popular character cafes.  There’s no better, or bigger, example of this than officially the world’s largest store, Primark Birmingham High Street. Formerly the site of a shopping centre, since it opened in 2019, it has held the Guinness World Record for the world’s largest retail fashion store at 160,000 sq. ft.

While most Primark headlines perhaps focus on its trends and fashion, today more than 50 per cent of Primark’s clothes are everyday basics: essential items that families and shoppers choose Primark’s value for time and time again such as underwear, jeans, tees, sweatshirts, and of course pyjamas and socks.

Primark has always been about choice and offering something for everybody. To help offer its British customers even more choice, while keeping local stores at the heart of it all, since 2022 it has been trialling – and now rolling out nationwide – a Click & Collect service. This means, when it’s available everywhere by the end of next year, all customers will have the full Primark ranges at their fingertips, for collection in their local store.

As it now reaches this golden anniversary, Primark continues to expand and invest for growth. Earlier this year, Primark announced a £100million investment across its UK store estate, including new stores, extensions and refurbishments: So far this year, it has opened new stores in Bury St Edmunds, Teesside, significant extensions in Gateshead and Westfield Stratford and two relocated stores in Bradford and High Wycombe in 24 hours in early September.

And all of this while the international footprint of Primark has grown beyond imagination from when it first crossed the Irish Sea 50 years ago:  Primark today has more than 450 stores across 17 countries including Spain, France, Germany, the USA and, as of this year, Hungary, employing more than 80,000 colleagues worldwide.

*Research commissioned by Primark and carried out by Public First, to be published October 2024