Clothes shopping is never an easy task when you have kids in tow. It doesn’t matter if they’re toddlers, young or teenagers, they are still a pain in the proverbial backside when you’re trying to look round the shops and I can guarantee that my teenage son will be moaning and groaning within half an hour when we go shopping.
Back in the Summer we decided to brave the busy Ipswich shopping centre, the prime motive to get the kids kitted out for the new school term. After we’d paid the perfunctory visit to the school clothing department in Debenhams we set off down the street to have a wander round the shops. I was absolutely amazed then my son stopped outside Primark and suggested we had a look inside. Teenagers are renowned for wanting designer labels aren’t they? I propelled him inside quick as a flash, before he could see the error of his ways and change his mind.
I’d never been inside a Primark before, nope not ever. It’s not a shop I’d think of visiting really, as it seems to be the butt of many a joke and always has been even when I was younger. Primark has always been a discount clothing shop and in my experience that means pure rubbish on the shelves so I tend to steer clear. I’m not really sure what attracted Jack to the shop in the first instance because Primark don’t have any trendy window displays nor do they have any advertising splashed all over the windows. I suppose they think they are popular enough not to have to worry about things like that and just rely on word of mouth to get the shoppers into the stores.
When we entered the shop it was about 2.30pm. As far as the eye could see, the floor was jam packed with shoppers and every conceivable wall space was filled with clothes piled high on shelves as well as in the centre of the store. I felt I was in the middle of a jumble sale and half expected to try and look at a garment and then have some mad granny breathing sown my neck as she got there first. It was all a little disconcerting for a Primark virgin but I took a deep breath and prepared to fight off the bargain hunters. As I went further into the shop I realised that although there was a lot of people it was still really easy to move around. Despite there being floor displays everywhere, the designers had the foresight to ensure that there was ample room between the displays for people to move, even if they had a buggy in tow. There were even mirrors on the wall for people to parade in front of if they can’t be bothered to go into the changing rooms, a blessing when the shop is busy and you only want to try a coat on I expect. Talking of the changing rooms, we did visit them and as far as shops go, they were pretty good! Light and airy with plenty of room PLUS a very helpful assistant who didn’t mind Mum and two children piling in a cubicle, which incidentally was more than big enough for my bulk and the two children (Jack being adult sized anyway) so a far cry from many of the department stores that I normally visit whose staff could do with a course on customer relations and that’s before you even get into the cramped changing room.
I’ve said there were displays everywhere haven’t I? Well I need to say it again. Primark sell every conceivable item of clothing that you could ever want. There’s underwear, tops, fleeces, trousers, jeans, nightwear, schoolwear, beachwear, you name it they sell it. Kids clothes and adults too, the shop literally bursts at the seams with a massive range of clothing for all weathers and occasions. There are t-shirts for a couple of pound, packs of trainer sock for the same, and adult fleeces in a huge array of colours for a fiver. Amazing. My initial thoughts about Primark were way off the mark you know. Yes there is some cacky old cheap stuff, but the good quality clothing outweighs these items by a mile.
Although all of the jeans and indeed a fair chunk of the tshirts, are piled on shelves rather than being displayed in a tidy fashion on hangers that’s only a minor negative aspect, but I do feel these kind of displays look quite untidy once a few customers have rooted through them looking for a bargain. However staff were on hand to continually tidy the piles and all of the items were arranged in size order so it was easy to fins what we were looking for. The staff were really motivated and were continually stocking the shelves during our visit so despite the fact that the shop was heaving with customers, the stock was magically replenished in front of our eyes!
On our visit we bought
Two pairs of mens jeans 1 womans fleece 1 girls coat 2 packs of trainer socks 2 pairs of mens black trousers 4 pairs of boxer shorts
Now if I’d been in any other shop and had bought all of those items I’d expect to be paying well over a hundred pound, and possibly nearer to two hundred. In Primark, this lot cost me an amazing sixty pound. I suppose you’re thinking that the quality or the style was cheap and nasty aren’t you? Sorry to disappoint but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Both of my children are fussy when it comes to clothing their bodies so the stuff they chose was all trendy and looked as though it could easily have come from another boutique or department store. Oh yes, another thing I like about Primark is that there is none of this silly pricing. You’re not going to find anything priced at £3.99, everything is rounded to the nearest pound so our shopping came to sixty quid, nothing more, nothing less. As we were paying by debit card, there was a little blip in the proceedings as the tills in the shop are set to throw out an error if someone wants to pay by card for anything over £50. It doesn’t matter if you’ve got thousands in the bank, those silly Primark tills are going to show an error and the supervisor has to be called to override it. Although the checkout assistant assured us that there was nothing wrong with the card (I could have told her that!) it was a little embarrassing but was sorted out within a couple of minutes. I do find it amazing that in the new millennium this fault on the tills can’t be rectified as I’m sure thousands of people pay by debit card now to avoids carrying cash around everywhere. Primark does accept credit cards and also cheques but I think next time I’ll just go back to the dark ages and pay with cold hard cash! Apart from this, the service was conducted speedily and our items were packed neatly into the store carrier bags. The queues at the checkouts were pretty long but the service was fast so we didn’t have to hang around long and wait before we were served. Another bonus!
We all left Primark with at least one item of clothing each. My daughter bought a coat for the winter, a lovely pastel pink colour with loads of fur round it for a tenner. Actually her coat was the most expensive single item we purchased and considering both my husband and my son bought jeans that were less than a tenner, I am really impressed. The jeans fit perfectly and are as good as the type they buy in Burtons which retail at around the thirty pound mark. Since this visit we’ve returned, not just to this branch but to one in Norwich as well. We’ve bagged more bargains and there’s nothing more satisfying than leaving a shop with bulging carrier bags and a full purse.
Oh and lastly for all those people with ethics, Primark have an ethical code of conduct against sweat shops. That’s got to be good hasn’t it? I shall definitely be visiting the store again in the future to pick out some bargains for the whole family and I promise I’ll never think of Primark as second class again.
If you’re not sure where your local Primark is, you can visit the store at www.primark.co.uk . Don’t expect anything too much from the site though as it is rather basic, but take a trip to the store and I guarantee you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
More details
City / Branch address
Ipswich
Frequency of visit
Several times a year
Price
Low
Quality
Excellent
After-sales service
Good
Staff knowledge
Good
Waiting / queues
Medium
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