Irish fast fashion retailer Primark will be opening its first store in the Czech Republic. The store will be in the center of Prague, but the exact location and opening date has not been disclosed.
Daily Hospodářské noviny reported that the retailer’s PR firm FleishmanHillard said it would “soon publish further details.” That statement is a bit vague, but a change from the past, when the PR agency issued categorical denials of eastward expansion. Rumors spread in March 2017 that Primark was planning to open a shop in the expanded Chodov shopping mall. FleishmanHillard at that time denied that Primark had any intention of opening a Czech shop.
That was not the first time such rumors occurred. They began in 2014 when the Irish retailer said it was opening a logistics center in Bor, near the Czech border in the Plzeň region of West Bohemia. Many companies, though, have logistics centers in the Czech Republic despite not having stores here because the costs are far lower than in Western Europe. Fans of Primark have been active on social media for years trying to encourage the retailer to come to the Czech Republic, and the Facebook group Chceme Primark v ČR (We want Primark in the Czech Republic) has 3,900 members. Czech fans of the brand organize bus trips to Germany and Austria, which have Primark stores.
Primark opened its first store in Dublin in 1969. The company sells clothes at below average prices. It carries newborn and children’s clothing, women’s wear, men’s wear, homeware, accessories, footwear, beauty products and confectionery. Much of what they sell is fast fashion, products based on current fashion-show trends. They do this by having a high turnover rate with items sold quickly after they are made.
They also have low advertising costs, as the brand has many faithful customers already. They do not do internet sales due to high shipping costs and high return rates. Primark opened its first store in Dublin in 1969. In May 2006, the first Primark store outside Ireland and the UK opened in Madrid.
Currently, it has stores in 11 countries. The brand had almost 370 locations worldwide in 2018. The brand will also open stores in Slovenia in summer 2019 and in Poland in 2019 or 2020.
