Spain was the first Primark market outside the British Isles, and it has now opened the latest of its 357 stores here

How did Primark arrive in Spain?

In 1969 it opened a fashion store called Penneys in Dublin, Ireland. Four years later, by then with the Primark brand, it opened its first fashion, home, beauty and gift store in the United Kingdom. The first store outside the British Isles was opened in Spain in 2006. Currently, it has a total of 357 stores in 11 countries in Europe and the United States. It has now opened the latest of them in Valencia.

 

Primark opened its first store in Spain in Plenilunio (Madrid) in 2006, bringing its slogan "Amazing fashion at amazing prices" to the Spanish market. Primark aims to offer the best value for money on the high street and wants to demonstrate that quality fashion can be affordable to everyone.

 

What infrastructure do you have in Spain?
Currently the company is a leader in the Spanish market in terms of volume (units). In addition, we have a regional headquarters in Madrid. Primark has more than 7,000 workers in 45 stores in Spain. With each establishment we open, we create new jobs. One aspect of our hiring strategy is attracting people who for a variety of reasons have been unemployed for some time. In the tax year 2016-17 we generated more than 600 jobs in Spain, of which over 400 were people who were returning to work, while for 60 it was their first job.

 

Recently, they have created a subsidiary to manage their logistics in Spain
Since 2013, Primark has doubled its warehousing capacity and now operates from eight distribution centers in Europe and the United States. Our warehousing and transportation operation in Torija (Guadalajara) services our stores in Spain, Portugal and the south of France. The warehousing operation is managed by DHL, while the transportation is executed directly by Primark.

 

How has the company evolved since 2006?
Over 12 years, Primark has opened 45 stores in Spain, among them a flagship store in Gran Vía in Madrid, in 2015. We are also relocating our store in the Islazul shopping mall in Madrid to a new location that will be twice as big as the current one. Primark is present in the major Spanish cities: Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Zaragoza, Bilbao, Malaga, La Coruña, and shortly in Seville.

 

How is Spain important to the company's strategy?
Spain is the second biggest market in both number of stores and turnover, and we are committed to continuing to invest in Spain. Last fiscal year we opened three new stores in Palma de Mallorca, Granada and Tarragona, and are continuing to open outlets this year with our most recent opening in Valencia, and upcoming ones in Seville and Almeria. In short, we see a future with Primark in most, if not all, provincial capitals.

 

What is the profile of the company's customers and suppliers in Spain?
Primark is for everyone. Making our customers feels good every time they visit one of our stores is our number one priority. That's why we have redoubled our efforts on the design of the stores, customer service and product quality. With respect to our suppliers, in February this year we published information on our website about our factories in the 31 countries where we manufacture our products. The factories are only included on our map after having manufactured products for Primark for a year, and having become a consolidated supplier. To achieve this status, they have to demonstrate that they can systematically comply with Primark's ethical standards, based on the United Nations' International Labor Organization's (ILO) standards. They must also comply with our commercial requirements in areas such as quality and punctual delivery.