thumb|right|The company's original logo introduced in 1969
thumb|right|The company's first Primark-branded logo introduced in 1974
Primark Limited (; trading as Penneys in Ireland) is an Irish multinational retailer specialising in fast fashion. It is headquartered in Dublin, Ireland, with 476 shops in Europe and in the United States and franchised shops in Kuwait and Dubai. The company was founded as Penneys; however, that brand hasn't been used outside of the Republic of Ireland since 1976 because of a trademark conflict with American retailer JCPenney. Primark is owned by Associated British Foods.
Primark sells clothing, accessories and footwear, beauty products, housewares, and confectionery.
It is a member of the UN Fashion Charter and the Ethical Trading Initiative. As of 2025, 74% of its garments use recycled fibers.
The company has been criticised for sourcing products from suppliers with poor working conditions in investigations by War on Want, BBC News, as well as from notes found by alleged workers in clothing; however, some of these notes and footage have been determined to be fabricated or hoaxes.
History
20th century
The company's first shop, named Penneys and still in operation today, was established at 47 Mary Street in Dublin by Arthur Ryan and his business partner Micaela Mitchell
The first major shops outside of Dublin were opened in the cities of Cork and Belfast in 1971, both under the name of Penneys.
The company opened a shop in Derby in 1973, marking its first expansion into Great Britain. However, the Penneys brand continued to be used in Ireland and Scotland, and in 1975–1976, four more Penneys-branded shops were opened in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
In May 2006, the first Primark shop in mainland Europe opened in Madrid, Spain. In December 2008, it expanded into the Netherlands, followed by Portugal, Germany and Belgium in 2009.
In January 2009, a supplier was forced by the Ethical Trading Initiative to remove its branding from Primark shops and websites following a BBC/The Observer investigation into the employment practices. The investigation alleged the use of illegal immigrant labour and argued that the workers were paid less than the UK legal minimum wage.
In July 2009, having led the company since its foundation in 1969, Arthur Ryan retired as Chief Executive and became Chairman instead. He was replaced as Chief Executive by the company's Chief Operating Officer, Paul Marchant.
Primark expanded into Austria in 2012, France in 2013, and Italy in 2014.
From 2014, Primark began selling makeup products.
Primark opened its current headquarters in 2015 in a redeveloped Dublin building, Arthur Ryan House, formerly Chapel House.
In 2015, Primark opened its first United States shop, in Boston.
Primark started selling vegan snacks from January 2018.
In April 2019, Primark opened its largest shop to date, occupying Birmingham's former Pavilions Shopping Centre of , with five floors including a beauty salon, Disney-themed café and a barbershop, and adding the largest Greggs fast-food outlet in the world in February 2022. In June 2019, it expanded to Slovenia with a shop in Ljubljana.
In February 2020, Primark launched a Wellness collection, which includes 80 products made of organic, sustainable or recycled materials.
In August 2020, Primark opened its first shop in Poland, in the Galeria Młociny shopping centre in Warsaw. This was followed by shops in Poznań, Kraków, Katowice, Wrocław and Łódź in 2021. In June 2021, it opened its first shop in the Czech Republic, occupying an area of in Prague and serving as a flagship for the region of Central and Eastern Europe.
In November 2022, Primark introduced an online shopping service, inspired by losses during the COVID-19 lockdowns.
In December 2022, Primark expanded into Romania.
In May 2024, Primark unveiled a new brand identity, revealing a more curved and bold logo based on its 2005 logo, along with changing the colour slightly.
In May 2024, Primark expanded into Hungary.
In June 2024, Primark opened an extension to its Colombo Centre, Lisbon shop, which, at , made it the largest single-floor Primark shop in the world.
In March 2025, in Belfast, Primark opened its first ever standalone homeware shop.
In March 2025, Paul Marchant resigned as CEO of Primark following an investigation into inappropriate behaviour towards a woman in a social setting. Marchant admitted to an error in judgement, apologised to the individual, the ABF board and his colleagues, and accepted that his actions fell below the company's expected standards. Eoin Tonge, ABF's finance director, was appointed as interim CEO. Tonge was confirmed as permanent CEO in March 2026. The shop in Kuwait opened in October 2025.
In August 2025, the business launched a mobile app.
Corporate affairs
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Key trends for Primark (financial years ending 17 September)
!Year
!Revenue<br>(£m)
!Adjusted<br>operating<br>profit<br>(£m)
!Number of<br>employees<br>(1000s)
!Number<br>of shops
!Number of<br>served<br>countries
!Selling space<br>(million<br>sq ft)
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2014
|6,950
|662
|54
|278
|9
|10.2
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2015
|5,347
|673
|61
|293
|10
|11.1
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2016
|5,949
|689
|68
|315
|11
|12.3
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2017
|7,053
|735
|73
|345
|11
|13.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2018
|7,477
|843
|75
|360
|11
|14.8
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2019
|7,792
|913
|78
|373
|12
|15.6
|-
| style="text-align:left;" |2020
|5,895
|362
|70
|384
|13
|16.2
|-
|2021
|5,593
|321
|71
|398
|14
|16.8
|-
|2022
|7,697
|756
|72
|408
|14
|17.3
|-
|2023
|9,008
|735
|76
|432
|16
|18.1
|-
|2024
|9,448
|1,108
|82
|451
|17
|18.7
|-
|2025
|9,489
|1,126
|82.6
|473
|17
|19.5
|}
{| class="wikitable sortable floatright" style="display: inline-table"
|+Primark shops by country
|-
! Country
! Number<br />of shops
|-
|England
|157
|-
| Spain
| 63
|-
|United States
| 40
|-
| Republic of Ireland
| 38
|-
| Germany
| 32
|-
| France
| 27
|-
|Scotland
|21
|-
| Netherlands
| 21
|-
|Italy
| 16
|-
| Belgium
| 8
|-
|Poland
| 8
|-
|Wales
|8
|-
| Austria
| 5
|-
|Romania
| 4
|-
|Czech Republic
|3
|-
|Slovenia
| 1
|-
|Hungary
|1
|-
|Slovakia
|1
|-
|Kuwait
|1
|- class="sortbottom"
| Total
| 460
|}
In popular media
In January 2024, RTÉ broadcast a six-part documentary, entitled Inside Penneys, exploring the workings of the company.
Gallery
<gallery>
File:The biggest Primark in the world, High Street, Birmingham - geograph.org.uk - 6267680.jpg|Primark shop at High Street in Birmingham, England, the largest in the chain
File:Edificio Madrid-París (Madrid) 08.jpg|Primark shop at Gran Vía in Madrid, Spain, the second-largest in the chain
File:PrimarkMadryt.jpg|alt=|Interior of the Primark shop at Gran Vía in Madrid, Spain
File:Former Lewis's Building, Mosley Street.jpg|Primark in the former Lewis's Building in Manchester city centre, Manchester, England
File:2017-12-01 Primark, Aqua Shopping Centre, Portimão.JPG|Primark in the Aqua Shopping Centre, Portimão, Algarve region, Portugal
File:Interior of the Ridings Centre, Wakefield, West Yorkshire (8th December 2020) 004.jpg|Primark in the Ridings Centre, Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England
File:Primark, The Hague (2019) 02.jpg|Primark in The Hague, Netherlands
File:Car park and department store, Wilton Shopping Centre, Cork (geograph 3095197).jpg|Penneys in the Wilton area of Cork, Ireland
File:PRIMARK store Boston Massachusetts 09172015.jpg|Primark in the Downtown Crossing area of Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
File:Primark, Irvine - geograph.org.uk - 5236197.jpg|Primark in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland.
File:Primark Cluj-Napoca VIVO!.jpg|Primark in Cluj Napoca, Romania
</gallery>