Quite a few of these shops have been popping up around me in the last few months so i thought i would go inside and investigate. Having heard that they were cheap i fugured this would be a great place to buy some holiday clothes.
When you first walk in (to most of the stores anyway) it seems spacious and pretty well set out. Having been in a few of the stores now i noticed that the layout and size are pretty much the same in all of them - As are the products.
They tend to sell lots of cheap items such as simple vest tops, tank tops, swimsuits and bikinis, as well as underwear, dresses and most things that are found in other shops.
The best buys are probably the cheap tops. The vest tops tend to be plain in colour but cost as little as £1.50 each - bargain!!! Great for stocking up for the summer. However, be warned that after one or two washes they seem to lose shape rather quickly. But for the price payed it is hard to complain about this as you get your monies worth. There are many t-shirts of bright and varied colours starting from £3.00 each, along with the more dressy tops for around £6.
They have many other items of varied colours and styles but this changes depending on the time of year and fashions at the time.
Bras and pants start from as little as £2!!! Probably the cheapest around for the quality that you get. They come in man sizes too - however the largest size ive seen for a bra is an E so if you are any larger this shop may not cater.
Swimsuits and bikinis start from around £4, coming in a variety or shapes and sizes, colours and styles. Tops and bottoms, however, tend to come seperatly and i have noticed that quite often you can find a gorgeous top half and then fail to get hold of the bottoms, or vise versa. Whether this is due to people buying tops alone or a lack of stock i dont know, but i have been to two or three stores looking for the same top now and have found the same situations.
The shop caters for people or varied body size with clothes starting from a size 8 up to 18 (that i have seen).
Its not just for women too - they also have a small section set out for men, including suits, casual t-shirts and smart shirts, shorts, trousers and underwear/socks.
Basically, they sell the same as any other store really - just half the price or less. As well as clothes and footwear they do stock other items, but this varies depending on the store. Some have things like towels and baby clothes, random house items.
Returns are accepted with tags, as new and a reciept. But without a receipt i have noticed they will simply swap the item for you, which is reasonable and not unlike many shops.
One downfall to all this is that when they get busy it can take ages to get served as queues become quite lengthy. As well as this, many hands means that clothes soon become messy and hard to sort through - almost like a jumble sale. As many of the clothes are simply laid out rather than hung up this can make the mess worse than in other shops. So just make sure you go in when its quiter and you can have the whole shop to yourself.
The stores have now started to open in many places and so they are pretty easily accessible to everyone - much more than they used to be. Depending on where you live they sotres generally open from 9am - 5.30pm, saying open longer in shopping centres and from 10am - 4pm on sundays. The website www.primark.co.uk has a list of all the stores and locations, as well as phone numbers and opening times.
Overall this shop is quite highly recommended. The clothes are good, and cheap enough to wear a few times then throw away if you choose. Its quite varied and stock changes quite often. The best thing to do is to pop in and see for yourself - your guarenteed to grab a bargain and will probably find more than you expect to.
Pictures of Primark (Shop)
Primark
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
We had one of these open recently as well. I wandered through a couple of days after it was open and the place was jammed with people. I've not been back since!
supercityfan 03.07.2006 18:19
Considering how cheap the stuff is, the quality is pretty decent. As you say though the queues can be horrendous.
fairygirl12 03.07.2006 08:35
It is great for those items you know you'll only wear for the summer and then bin. Great review, Nicola
very helpful by (100%):
