Primark: £10? Ooh that’s Expensive!

On August 5th, 2010, Paul Marchant, the CEO of the UK’s wildly popular discount clothier Primark, announced a new store opening on the poor relation end of London’s Oxford Street. The Primark store on the opposite end, up-scale Marble Arch, had opened in 2007 and, despite concerns about its location among higher end retailers, was now generating profits of 1.7M/ week. The newest location of this unique vender would take up an astounding 85,000 sq ft (7,896 sq meters) and be strategically located in front of the Tottingham Road metro station, which was planned to be fully remodeled. Less than a year earlier, Mr. Marchant had taken over from founder Arthur Ryan, who had stepped down after 40 years of service. Mr. Ryan, a septuagenarian described as the creator, driving force, and inspiration behind [Primark] was praised with having truly changed the face of retailing in Ireland and the UK, [and] building the outstanding success story of the decade. Now, the torch had passed on and the immediate challenge lay in overseeing the chain’s domestic and European expansion. Could Mr. Marchant continue to make Primark a UK success while at the same time adapting its unique business model to suit new geographies? Could he once and for all dispel the perennial controversy regarding Primark’s one weak link: suppliers’ use of cheap factory labor? And, of most concern to parent company ABF Holdings, could he deliver the profits to which they’d become accustomed?

“Primark: £10? Ooh that’s Expensive!” Written by Nueno Iniesta, José Luis; Villanueva Galobart; Ziskind, Julie Michelle; IESE Publishing, July 2011

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