Primark plans to invest more than £100m in its UK stores this year, as it marks 50 years in the UK, while it also today announced the opening of a new distribution centre in Jacksonville in Florida as it continues its expansion across the US.
Primark, which trades as Penneys in Ireland, said it will open new stores this year in Bury St Edmunds (due to open on March 6) as well as in Teesside Park and Glasgow Fort.
Primark, which is owned by Associated British Foods, also plans to open some of its biggest ever store extensions across the UK.
Its Westfield Stratford store in London will almost double in size to more than 81,000 square feet to become the second largest Primark in the capital, while its Metrocentre store in Gateshead, Tyneside, will grow to almost 80,000 square feet of total shopping space once reopened later this year.
Combining the new store locations and extensions, Primark is set to reach 195 stores and almost 8 million square feet of selling space by the end of the year.
The new stores and significant extensions will result in almost 700 new jobs across these stores this year, ranging from retail assistants to store manager positions.
The company is also relocating several stores in Bradford, High Wycombe and Bolton to new and improved sites, while another 15 existing stores will be refurbished this year as part of an ongoing refit programme, with more stores to follow.
Two new store locations - Epsom in Surrey and Newbury in Berkshire - are also set to open from 2025.
These new locations will contribute more than 55,000 square feet of new retail space once open, serving as a further boost to local shopping destinations.
Meanwhile, Primark's new distribution centre in Florida, which comprises over 550,000 square feet of warehouse space in North Jacksonville, will serve its expansion in the US with a focus on Southern states including Florida, Texas, and more.
Primark today also announced lease signings with the intent to open new stores in Virginia, Maryland, Tennessee and Texas.
The new centre is Primark's second distribution centre in the US, in addition to Bethlehem, PA.
Primark currently operates 24 stores in the US, across across states and it has plans to reach 60 stores in the US by 2026.
"We've seen growing demand for Primark stores across the US, particularly in our southern locations where we’ve even expanded our store footprint in our Sawgrass Mills store to meet customer demand," said Kevin Tulip, President of Primark US.
"The opening of this distribution center in Jacksonville comes at the perfect time for the brand and our customers as we set our sights on continued growth across the US, including in Florida, Texas, as well as our first store in Tennessee, which we announced today," he added.
