Primark Opens Its Door to a Frenzied Crowd

Friday 06th of April 2007 08:55:26 PM

Primark Opens Its Door to a Frenzied Crowd

Discount retailer Primark opened its new store yesterday in London, UK and discovered thousands of people wanting to get in to shop for all the bargains. Lines formed around the block and people had to wait for at least forty minutes before they could pay for their merchandise. Mounted police, officers from Safer Neighbourhoods, store security guards, and other officials gathered to manage the crowds and help those who suffered minor injuries. Among the items being sold were cashmere sweaters, designer T-Shirts, pants, skirts, and accessories such as handbags.

Even though a few people suffered minor injuries and a door was broken, those who shopped seemed to have had a good experience. "It was worth it. I got all my summer stuff. Now I just have to make it to the till and that looks like it could be another 45 minutes at least,” said shopper Hayley Ansell of Chigwell while waiting in line. Even though Primark has several other locations in Wandsworth, Tooting, Kilburn, Bromley, Croydon, Watford, and Hammersmith, shoppers had heard rumours that clothing would be on sale for a deep discount in celebration of the new opening.

Marketing director Breege O'Donoghue described the scene best by saying, “We're managing the situation on all three doors. As two come out, two can go in, as three leave, three can come in. We thought we'd be busy but nobody ever could have anticipated this. It's just crazy. They can get exactly the same stuff in any of our stores...”

The new Primark store is 70,000 square feet, which would normally be adequate enough for normal store traffic, and packed with people trying on clothing in the aisles and discarding merchandise they didn’t like on the floor. Others were going through the discard piles looking for T-Shirts and other items that might have fit them. All in all, it was a very busy shopping day.

(c)Anton Malan, www.sxc.hu