Primark

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Primark Stores Limited
Type	Subsidiary of Associated British Foods (ABF) plc
Founded	Dublin, Ireland, 1969
Headquarters	Dublin and Reading
Key people	Arthur Ryan, chairman and managing director[1], Seamus M. Halford, Deputy Managing Director, Patrick Prior, Finance Director, Breege O'Donoghue, Human Resources Director
Industry	Retailer
Products	Clothes, Linen also Household Goods
Revenue	£1,602m (2007) [1]
Employees	26,001
Website	primark.co.uk

Primark Stores Limited is an Irish clothing retailer, operating in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain. It has 161 stores with 125 in the UK, 34 in the Republic of Ireland and 4 in Spain. In the Republic of Ireland, where the company's main headquarters are based, it trades as Penneys. The company is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods (ABF) plc, employing over 26,000 people. The company positions itself as marketing fashionable clothing at competitive prices. There has been criticism of Primark concerning it's supply chain, namely sweat shops in India and Bangladesh where employees work under harsh conditions for minimal pay. There was going to be a programme, exposing the manufacturing of the clothing for Primark on Channel 4 on Sunday June 1st 2008, however, at the last minute and for currently unknown reasons the programme was withdrawn from schedules.

In England the name is generally pronounced /pɹaɪ'mɑːk/ (first syllable is pronounced "pry" and the second syllable with "mark"). However, in Wales, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Northern England and Scotland the name is usually pronounced /pɹi'mɑːk/ (first syllable is pronounced "pree").

The pronunciation of name leads to some debate and while some believe the store to have originally been originally pronounced "Pry-mark" /pɹaɪ'mɑːk/, the company had an intensive annual advertising campaign each Christmas during the 1980s where the store was referred to on several occasions throughout the song/jingle as "Pre-Mark" /pɹi'mɑːk/. Although in the Republic of Ireland, this lyric was redubbed as 'Penneys'.^{[2] [3]} However on the Primark corporate video, the company is pronounced "Pry-mark" /pɹaɪ'mɑːk/. ^[4]

Contents 1 Market position 2 Company history 3 Departments 4 Primark Own Brands 5 Store structure 6 Working practices 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Market position

Primark is known for selling clothes at the budget end of the market. The company's success is based on sourcing supply cheaply, making clothes with simple designs and fabrics, only making them in the most popular sizes, buying stock in huge bulks and varieties but most importantly Primark do not advertise their products. Ths store states that "Primark targets young, fashion-conscious under 35's, offering them high quality, fashion basics at value for money prices."

[edit] Company history

The original Penneys store was set up by Arthur Ryan and his partner Micaela Mitchell in Mary Street, Dublin, Ireland, in 1969. Arthur Ryan still remains Chairman of the company today. Primark's UK headquarters are located in Reading, in a former Co-Op Department Store

In the late 1990s, Primark acquired several premises from former C&A sites. In 2001, It also became the leaseholder of the former Lewis's Department Store in Piccadilly, Manchester. In early 1995, Primark acquired Bhs's OneUp chain. In line with corporate policy, the Irish stores were rebranded as Penneys, and the British stores were rebranded as Primark. This purchase more than doubled the then size of Primark.

In February 2005, Primark bought six former Allders sites from their administrators, Kroll. In July 2005 the 120-branch Littlewoods retail chain was purchased for £409 million. Primark kept approximately 40 of the stores converting them to the Primark format and sold the rest to other stores such as New Look.

In 2006 Primark opened its first two stores outside the UK and Ireland in Spain. On 19 May 2006 the first store opened in Plenilunio Shopping Centre outside Madrid, Spain. On 20 September 2006 the second store opened in Nueva Condomina Shopping Centre, Murcia. Its third branch opened in November 2007 at the Xanadú Shopping Center and Indoor Ski Resort, between Móstoles and Arroyomolinos, some 25 km away from central Madrid, soon followed by Jerez de la Frontera.

On 5 September 2007 it was revealed that Primark had been fined £8000 for supplying clothes which breached safety regulations. Primark were fined £500 for 16 hoodies with an unsafe neck cord being sold at the Gateshead and Sunderland stores.^[5][6]

On 5 April 2007 Primark opened its UK flagship store on Oxford Street in London's West End, having acquired the lease of the former Allders site in December 2005.

On 18 March 2008, Primark's newest store opened in the old Allders department store in The Malls, Basingstoke at 9am.

On March 21 2008, a woman was hospitalised allegedly due to an allergic reaction to Primark briefs. [2]

On April 4 2008, a three year-old girl was taken to hospital after falling about 30m (100ft) through a gap between two escalators in the Primark store in Liverpool. [3]

According to the retailing trade journal, Retail Week and The Times Newspaper, Primark is interested in expanding to Germany and later to Scandinavia and the Netherlands. Speculators say that Primark could open as many as 100 stores in Germany. ^{[7] [8]}

[edit] Departments

Primark carries a range of departments all identified for staff by numbers:

1 - Accessories
2 - Hosiery
4 - Lingerie
5 - Kidswear
6 - Menswear
7 - Footwear
8 - Ladieswear
11 - Household
23 - Toiletries
24 - Christmas
26 - Sports Wear

[edit] Primark Own Brands

All of the company's merchandise is made specifically for the company and as such Primark has its own brand names:

• Active — Sporting Boyswear
• Atmosphere — Womenswear and Accessories
• Butler & Webb — Formal Menswear
• Cedarwood State — Casual Menswear
• Denim Company — Womenswear, Casual Men's and Childrenswear
• Early Days — Babywear
• Girl 2 Girl — Young Girlswear
• Opia - Accessories
• Rebel Active — Older Boyswear
• Rebel Junior — Younger Boyswear
• Young Dimension - Older Girlswear

• Primark Home - Home Items

[edit] Store structure

The Store Manager is in overall control of the store and supported by, in smaller stores an Assistant Manager or in larger stores, by a Deputy Manager and two to three Assistant Managers. There are then Senior Department Managers and Junior Department Managers who are responsible for individual departments within the store.

Below management there are supervisors in charge of staff on a sales floor or staff on specific departments depending on the size of the store. There are then the department staff who put out stock and tidy their departments, customer service staff who deal with returns and exchanges along with general enquiries at the customer service desk, cashiers who work on the tills, staff who supervise and look after fitting rooms, stock-room staff who deal with deliveries and cash office staff who count money and do the banking.

Unlike other retail stores Primark has separate weekday and weekend staff and supervisors. Weekday staff work Monday to Friday on either full time 37.5-hour contracts or part time 20-hour contracts. Weekend staff work Saturday, Sunday, Public holidays and usually one late night, normally Thursday on 8-hour contracts.

[edit] Working practices

In 2006, Primark joined the Ethical Trading Initiative, a collaborative forum bringing together businesses, trade unions and NGOs to work on labour rights issues in their supply chains. ^[9] ETI members commit to working towards the implementation of a code of conduct based on the International Labour Organisation's core conventions. Membership of the ETI does not, however, provide any guarantees about either the quality of a company's ethical trading policies or actual conditions on the ground. Since it joined the ETI, Primark's policies and practices have been examined sceptically as part of Labour Behind the Label's annual 'Let's Clean Up Fashion' survey ^[10], and poor working conditions in Bangladeshi and Indian factories supplying Primark have been exposed several times ^[11], ^[12], ^[13].

In 2005, prior to joining the ETI, Primark 2005 scored worst at just 3.5 out of 20 on an ethical index that ranks the leading clothing chains on criteria such as workers' rights and whether they do business with oppressive regimes Mk One and Marks & Spencer were ranked second and third worst for ethics by Ethical Consumer magazine). The figure was contested by Primark and Ethical Consumer released a statement indicating that marks had been skewed due to its position in a wider company group.

[edit] References

• Alam, Khorshed; M. Hearson (2006-12-08). Fashion Victimes (pdf). War on Want. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
• Kehoe, Ian. "The very private Ryan", Sunday Business Post, 2006-08-01. Retrieved on 2006-12-10.
• Primark Stores Ltd, www.primark.co.uk
• The Independent Newspaper, UK, Dec 2005/ July 2007

[edit] External links

• Official site
• Clarification on Ethical Consumer rating of Primark
• Primark Profile in 2007 'Let's Clean Up Fashion' survey