Thousands of shoppers poured into a vast new “posh Primark” in Oxford Street today.
The four-storey flagship — near the junction with Tottenham Court Road — has exposed brick walls, giant LED screens and a new “dark theatrical space” where the latest fashion lines are on display.
It is the discount giant’s second store in Oxford Street. The first, at the Marble Arch end, opened in 2007 with a near riot when 3,000 shoppers forced the doors open and injured staff.
This time Primark bosses were taking no chances and opened the doors an hour earlier than advertised to avoid a repeat of the stampede to the bargain rails.
The store is seen as a key part of revamping the Tottenham Court Road end of Oxford Street before Crossrail’s arrival in 2017.
And shoppers were delighted with the new look of the 82,000 sq ft store.
Becka Yorke, 16, a fashion student from Chelmsford, said: “It’s really great, and it’s really posh, which is not what you necessarily expect from a Primark store. I go to college around the corner — this could be dangerous!”
Chazz Chugh, 35, a marketing manager from Leytonstone, said: “I think the layout is brilliant. You can clearly see that they have tried to move the brand more high end. It just feels like a nice shopping experience.”
Lea Krutelova, 29, a fashion administrator from Teddington, said: “It looks better than your average store, very spacious, and there is a lot of choice.”
The new store has 1,443 employees, 111 cash desks and 92 fitting rooms. It is the fifth largest Primark in the UK and the seventh largest in the company, which has recorded strong results in spite of a rainy summer.
Peter Franks, director of development at Primark, said: “We have put a lot of effort into digital media, so on the ground floor we have an
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11-metre by four-metre LED screen which features all our latest campaigns, which also acts as a ‘way finder’ for our customers.
“We have also featured a lot of the architecture of the building on the inside of it. On the second floor we have exposed all the original windows.
“This used to be the Corner House on Oxford Street so there is a lot of interesting architecture which we wanted to expose and allow it to speak for itself.”
