Primark's motto is, "Uptown Clothes Downright Prices" and that is exactly what it is! It takes bargain hunting to its extreme. In fact searching for bargains in a Primark store is less of a hunt and more of a collection! Primark sells every single clothes item imaginable in a wide variety of styles and colours and all at unbeatably low prices! Honestly, I don't know how they are making a profit their prices really are that cheap!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Where to find them: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There are 115 Primark stores across the UK and Ireland. Stores in the Republic of Ireland are known by the name Penneys. There are stores located at most major cities across the country. Although there is not one in my hometown Liverpool, there is a store just through the tunnel in Birkenhead and a huge store just a 40 minute car journey away in Manchester. For a store near to you the Primark website; www.primark.co.uk has a store locator which lists all of their stores throughout the UK and Ireland.
~~~~~~~~~~ Store Layout: ~~~~~~~~~~ The actual layout of the stores are generally quite good. The aisles are relatively wide and the clothes are generally logically set out. The Primark stores have the basis of a good shop layout. However, because the prices are so cheap, and the most common sizes run out very quickly, a visit to Primark is almost like a survival of the fittest competition. Talk about trolley rage!!! Because the majorty of people are going for the same items, clothes get flung everywhere in the search for the right size! so not long after opening the store is a mess! clothes are no longer folded, hung up or organised in any real way. But then I suppose disorganisation is the price to pay for the cheapness of the store.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ Product Range: ~~~~~~~~~~~~ As mentioned Primark sells everything you could desire when clothes shopping. The company's target population is those under 35 and the style of clothes available in store reflects this. On my visits to local stores I have found that there are alwayssome things that i just have to buy! The clothes always reflect the fashion and styles of the time and at a fraction of the price I alwasy feel the need to buy one in every colour! Not quite sure why that is. lol. Primark have a VERY good shoe range, from everything from slippers, to trainers to wedges! I bought a fab pair of black suede/cotton shoes with a rubber sole for £4 and when i wore them for work people were asking me where i got them from. It was great! The swimwear range is also one of the bst i have seen in a store (including most of the expensive designer shops!) I now have exessive numbers of bikinis this summer but have still probably spent less on them than i would have in previous years. And now I can pretend I am super rich on holiday by changing my bikini twice a day. heehee. The belts in Primark are also great value for money and ultra fashionable. Simplly stylish cotton belts in bright colours (much suited to me) are £2!!! and because they are plain they go with jeans, trousers, combats..... well worth their value!! Another thing worth mentioning is that it seems that with every skirt, pair of jeans or linens, a belt was automatically included in the price. Sometimes I even foun myself wondering that if i were in any other shop would i be paying twice as much for the belt alone! I don't really buy any jewellery from Primark because theres never really anything that catches myeye. I have found that where jewellery is concerned you are either lucky and find something fabulous or cant find anything at all. Generally i find that whereas the clothes in Primark look like good quality items, the jewellery actually looks cheap.
~~~~~~~~~ Availability: ~~~~~~~~~ Primark seems to have really caught on in recent years. Because the prices are so low it is inevitably going to be very popular making it suer busy during peak hours. I have found that even if the store has only been open for a couple of hours, the most popular sizes in many items will be hard to come across. Sizes 10 and 12 were those most likely to be sold out while you are looking. This was most evident in vest tops and linens which i struggled to find in my size. The actual range of sizes is very good however. Clothes range from a size 8 up to size 18 I think. there is also a babies and childrens range so there really is something for everybody. Shoes also start at childrens sizes, and in my experience the availability of all shoe sizes is much better than it is for clothes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Opening Hours: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The opening hours for the store that I visit most often in Manchester are as follows: Monday 9.00-6.00 Tuesday 9.00-6.00 Wednesday 9.00-6.00 Thursday 9.00-8.00 Friday 9.00-6.30 Saturday 9.00-6.30 Sunday 11.00-5.00 These are pretty standardised times and are similar for most Primark stores across the country.
~~~~ Staff: ~~~~ The floor staff in Primark seemed to be friendly enough. Although I did notice that during my time in the store they were deeply engaged in conversation....with each other! This did make them quite unapproachable if you did need to ask them about something. I myself did not feel the need to ask for assistace. Primark is the type of store where if you can't find your size yourself then the staff will have little more success in finding it. The staff on the changing rooms were much more useful. There is a limited number of garments that you can take into the changing rooms but the staff at the front of the changing areas are happy to swap any items you have already tried on with other items from your basket. The checkout assistants are realtively quick and pleasant and even fold and bag up your purchases foryou to save you the task.
~~~~~~~~ Queueing: ~~~~~~~~ Admittedly the queues for the changing rooms are very long. On my last visit the store was very busy and I was queueing for over 20 minutes just to get into the changing room. When you do have a changing cubicle the trying on proces is prolonged further by the constant swapping of garments from changing room to basket. The queues for the checkouts also look as though they will take a long time for you to get to the front. However, this is normally not the case as there is usually many staff working the tills so the queues move quickly and waiting times are short. On the same visit I waited no longer than about 6 or 7 minutes to pay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And finally....What i bought on my last visit to Primark: ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I thought this would give you an idea of just how much you can get for your money at Primark. It may be totally uselesss information but at least I get to talk about shopping! woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo! So here goes;
1 denim skirt complete withbrown leatherette belt 4 vest tops 4 material belts (in the same colours as the vest tops 2 pairs of long linens (with woven belts attached) 2 pairs of cut off linens 2 pairs of shorts (for the beach) 1 cotton skirt - stripy and colourful! 2 sexy bikinis! 1 cafatan top 2 crinkled look tops 1 long top to go over jeans etc 1 halter neck top 2 pairs of earrings 1 pair of pajamas 1 pair of trainers 1 pair of wedges 2 pairs of shoes
All this came to a grad total of.............£96 exactly!!!! how good is that! I don't even mind that i havent gotten around to wearing some of it! lol
I would highly recommend Primark to everybody! its well worth a look even if you don't intend to buy!
More details
City / Branch address
Frequency of visit
Monthly
Price
Very low
Quality
Good
After-sales service
Good
Staff knowledge
Adequate
Waiting / queues
Long
Evaluate this review
How helpful would this review be to someone making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
very helpful
