Business

Primark opens its 400th international store in Italy

New outlet in Sicily brings to 70,000 the number of people employed across 14 countries

Primark’s newest store in Sicily, Italy. Photograph: Primark

Wed Dec 1 2021 - 10:38

Primark opened its 400th international store in Italy today. The opening of the fashion retailer’s Sicily store brings to eight the number of outlets it has in the country.

The new Italian shop brings to 70,000 the number of people employed across the company’s 400 outlets, spread across 14 countries. The firm said the name ‘Primark’ comes from the Italian word ‘Prima’, which means ‘first’.

“Founder Arthur Ryan loved the Italian language and wanted the business to make its ‘mark’, hence Primark was born, so it’s fitting that its 400th store is based in Italy.”

The news comes after the company, which trades as Penneys in Ireland, last week announced plans to to invest €250 million into its store network here, in a move that will increase its trading space by 20 per cent and add 700 jobs to its workforce.

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This will include Penneys opening a store at the Square shopping centre in Tallaght, Dublin for the first time, with the 3,995sq m (43,000sq ft) outlet slated to begin trading in the autumn of next year. Some 600 of the planned new roles will be based in stores, with 100 at Primark’s global headquarters in Dublin.

Penneys is the brand used by Primark in the Irish market. Some 300 staff will be employed in the Tallaght store. The retailer already employs about 5,000 staff here. The new jobs will be created over the next three years while the capital investment in its store network will be spread across 10 years.

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