Inside fashion retailer Primark’s new Tysons store, opening today | FFXnow

Opening day has arrived for Primark’s first store in Virginia.

The Ireland-based fashion company will cut the ribbon on its new, two-story shop at Tysons Corner Center at 11 a.m. today (Tuesday), welcoming customers with free tote bags, complimentary sweets from Georgetown Cupcakes and other giveaways.

This weekend, the celebration will continue with giveaways starting at 10 a.m. and free meals from Empanadas de Mendoza, a food truck that also has a stand in Tysons Galleria, from noon to 4 p.m. on Saturday (July 20). Sunday (July 21) will bring more free totes and other giveaways, free ice cream and visits from SpongeBob SquarePants.

“Opening days are really fun,” a Primark spokesperson said during a media preview of the store yesterday (Monday). “It’s like a big celebration.”

For Primark, the Tysons grand opening will also kick off a “season” of store launches around the country, according to Primark U.S. President Kevin Tulip. The company anticipates opening four more locations by the winter holiday season, including one in Orlando, Florida, and its first Michigan store at Great Lakes Crossing near Detroit.

Started as Penneys in Dublin, Ireland, in 1969, Primark now has stores in 17 different countries and ranks among Europe’s largest fashion chains. The Tysons Corner Center location will be the company’s 25th in the U.S. and its second in the D.C. area, coming on the heels of last year’s opening at Arundel Mills in Hanover, Maryland.

With additional stores in the works at Potomac Mills in Woodbridge and Mall of Prince George’s in Hyattsville, Primark sees the D.C. area as an important market, Tulip says.

“We spend a lot of time and energy looking at each individual location, everything from population density to other similar types of retailers in the mall, and Tysons Corner had been on our list for a while,” he told FFXnow. “It’s a premiere shopping destination, great location, close to Washington, D.C.”

Taking the place of L.L. Bean, which closed in January 2021 after two decades at the mall, Primark’s store at Tysons Corner Center actually takes up around 50,000 square feet of space, but the selling area is closer to 35,000 square feet, which the company sees as an ideal size for its U.S. stores.

“When this space became available at the right size, we were really happy with the position in the mall and this was a perfect place for us to come,” Tulip said.

Adjacent to Old Navy near Bloomingdale’s, the store has women’s clothing, accessories and beauty products on the upper level, while men’s, children’s and home items, including sleepwear and lingerie, are concentrated on the lower level.

While all Primarks have access to the same stock, the teams at each individual store are given the flexibility to adapt their layout, displays and merchandise based on what’s in season and their community’s preferences, Tulip says.

The Tysons store might emphasize women’s formalwear, for example, more than the one in Arundel Mills if it’s more in demand. It could change out the shorts, baseball caps and other summer clothes near the upper level’s entrance later than the upcoming store in Michigan, where the weather will cool down sooner.

Tulip noted that American customers seem particularly drawn to exclusive products developed through licensing agreements with companies like Disney, the NFL and Netflix. Right now, there’s a prominent display of “The Lion King”-branded shirts in a nod to the movie’s 30th anniversary.

“We really give that autonomy to the store team to learn who your customer is and tailor that global range to suit,” Tulip said. “There’s not just somebody in a head office just pushing the same stock to every individual store. As a physical retailer, we want people to come in and explore Primark, get to know us for our product, our price, but also get a sense…that the store’s for them, and that’s why I think we differ from some big box retailers that don’t have that flexibility.”

According to Tulip, Primark is able to maintain low prices — a pair of denim jeans costs $10, for instance — by relying on a uniform range of products across all 17 countries and focusing on brick-and-mortar retail rather than online sales. Its website lets customers check whether an item is in stock, but it doesn’t offer deliveries.

In the past, Primark and other clothing retailers came under scrutiny in the U.K., where government officials worried that their cheap prices encourage waste and rely on labor exploitation. In response, Primark launched a “Primark Cares” campaign in 2021 that included pledges to utilize recyclable or sustainable materials and ensuring all workers in its supply chain have a living wage by 2030.

Tulip disputes the categorization of Primark as “fast fashion,” noting that clothes can take at least eight to nine months to go from design to store shelves. A slogan posted above the Tysons store’s escalators — “Love the feeling” — is a reference to the company’s belief in the importance of physical retail, he says.

“Being able to have one physical space where we’re not paying the cost of distributions and at-home deliveries and everything else that other businesses carry allows us to really put all of our focus and energy around our price,” Tulip said.