Information AboutPrimark |
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Primark Stores Limited is a clothing retailer in the United Kingdom , Republic Of Ireland and Spain . It has 161 stores with 125 in the UK, 34 in the Republic of Ireland and 2 in Spain. In the Republic of Ireland, where the company's main headquarters are based, it trades as '''Penneys'''. The company is a subsidiary of Associated British Foods (ABF) plc, employing over 26,000 people. The company positions itself as marketing fashionable clothing at competitive prices. MARKET POSITION Primark is known for selling clothes at the budget end of the market. The company's success is based on sourcing supply cheaply, making clothes with simple designs and fabrics, only making them in the most popular sizes and buying stock in huge bulks and varieties. COMPANY HISTORY City Centre ]] The original Penneys store was set up by Arthur Ryan and his partner Micaela Mitchell in Mary Street, Dublin , Ireland, in 1969. Arthur Ryan still remains Chairman of the company today. Primark's UK headquarters are located in Reading , in a former Co-Op Department Store In the late 1990s, Primark acquired several premises from former C&A sites. It also purchased the former Lewis Department Store in Piccadilly, Manchester . In early 1995, Primark acquired Bhs 's OneUp chain. In line with corporate policy, the Irish stores were rebranded as Penneys, and the British stores were rebranded as Primark. This purchase more than doubled the then size of Primark. In February 2005, Primark bought six former Allders sites from their administrators, Kroll . In July 2005 the 120-branch Littlewoods retail chain was purchased for £ 409 million. Primark kept approximately 40 of the stores converting them to the Primark format and sold the rest to other stores such as New Look . On 5 April 2007 Primark opened its UK flagship store on Oxford Street in London's West End , having acquired the lease of the former Allders site in December 2005. In 2006 Primark opened its first two stores outwith the UK and ROI. On 19 May 2006 the first store opened in Plenilunio Shopping Centre outside Madrid, Spain. On 20 September 2006 the second store opened in Nueva Condomina Shopping Centre, Murcia. Its third branch will soon open at Xanadu Shopping Center and Indoor Ski Resort, between Móstoles and Arroyomolinos, some 25km away from central Madrid. In England the name is generally pronounced ''Pry-mark''. In the dialect of Wales , Northern Ireland , the Republic Of Ireland and Scotland the name is usually pronounced ''Pree-mark''. On Wednesday 5th September it was revealed that Primark had been fined £8000 for supplying clothes which breached safety regulations. Primark were fined £500 for 16 hoodies with an unsafe neck cord being sold at the Gateshead and Sunderland stores. DEPARTMENTS Primark carries a range of departments all identified for staff by numbers: 1 - Accessories 2 - Hosiery 4 - Lingerie 5 - Kidswear 6 - Menswear 7 - Footwear 8 - Ladieswear 11 - Household 23 - Toiletries 24 - Christmas 26 - Sports Wear PRIMARK OWN BRANDS All of the company's merchandise is made specifically for the company and as such Primark has its own brand names:
STORE STRUCTURE The Store Manager is in overall control of the store and supported by, in smaller stores an Assistant Manager or in larger stores, by a Deputy Manager and two to three Assistant Managers. There are then Senior Department Managers and Junior Department Managers who are responsible for individual departments within the store. Below management there are supervisors in charge of staff on a sales floor or staff on specific departments depending on the size of the store. There are then the department staff who put out stock and tidy their departments, customer service desk staff who deal with returns and exchanges at the customer service desk, cashiers who work on the tills, stock-room staff who deal with deliveries and cash office staff who count money and do the banking. Unlike other retail stores Primark has separate weekday and weekend staff and supervisors. Weekday staff work Monday to Friday on either full time 37.5-hour contracts or part time 20-hour contracts. Weekend staff work Saturday, Sunday, Public holidays and usually one late night, normally Thursday on 8-hour contracts. ETHICAL TRADING Primark have recently signed an international trade agreement, whereby they state that they do not use child labour or sweatshops. All workers in their associated factories are paid a living wage which means they are able to support themselves and have a little disposable money left. All factories must have clean sanitary facilities and clean living accommodation if sleeping quarters are provided for workers. Every member of staff in the Primark stores were given a five minute talk by their HR Manager on what the Ethical Trading agreement involves. However, Primark in 2005 scored just 2.5 out of 20 on an ethical index that ranks the leading clothing chains on criteria such as workers' rights and whether they do business with oppressive regimes (Mk One and Marks & Spencer were ranked second and third worst for ethics by Ethical Consumer magazine). The figure was contested by Primark and Ethical Consumer released a statement indicating that marks had been skewed due to its position in a wider company group. To date (2007), despite signing up to the international trade agreement, their record, for example in Bangladesh, (where most of the clothing for Primark, Tesco and Asda is made, and workers are paid as little as 5p a day) has continued to be condemned by human rights observers internationally (see The Independent Business pages July 2007). REFERENCES
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