The retail wishes of thousands of shoppers have moved a step closer with Primark today confirming that their first store on the island - at Carrefour Property's FAN Mallorca Shopping next to the airport motorway - will open this September.
A total of 252 staff have been recruited from 4,000 applicants and this will be Primark's forty-second store in Spain. In sales volume, Primark is Spain's leading retailer, its Spanish success story having started ten years ago and its expansion continuing.
"We bring fashion at the best price with new products arriving every day. We have a lovely two-floor store in Palma which is equipped with free wifi, charging areas for mobile telephone and above all the best products at the best possible prices," Breege O'Donoghue, group director business development and new markets told the Bulletin today. "At the moment our Palma store is our most important, considering that it will be our next new opening."
Primark is looking to roll out its tried and tested retail philosophy to cater for the needs of the local population and visiting tourists. "We are a family store and therefore we stock everything for the family," said O'Donoghue, adding that suitcases are among the most popular articles: so that visiting tourists can take their buys home. The Irish retailer, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods, has taken Spain by storm over the last decade and it now employs 5,000 people. O'Donoghue said that the company was particularly proud of its Spanish staff, who are now involved in Primark's expansion both in Europe and the United States.
Primark's opening hours will be in line with all the other stores in the FAN Mallorca Shopping complex, and customers relations' staff will be English speakers. Its arrival in Palma has certainly attracted great interest, O'Donoghue noting that the company likes competition.
On broader issues O'Donoghue said that it was a question of "wait and see" as regards Brexit. She also said that these days Primark is an international company with important positions across Europe and now the US. The flagship store in Madrid is the second biggest in group just behind the superstore in Manchester. At the moment the Irish retailer is not looking at opening more branches in the Balearics but is convinced that the Palma store will be a success story.