Primark as an interesting business story. The chain will also open in Prague
Not only customers but also retailers are looking forward to reopening stores. And among them is also one of the richest families in the world – the Weston clan, represented mainly by its oldest members Galen and Hilary. It is the Westons who own the Primark fast fashion chain, whose first Czech store is about to open.
Many Czechs will never miss Oxford Street on their way to London. The shopping mecca on one side offers the world’s top brandies at the famous Selfridges department store, at the other end of the street, at Tottenham Court Road, then you will find a less crowded fashion house – Primark. The two places could not be more different. At Selfridges you can buy the latest goods from Louis Vuitton, Vivienne Westwood or designers, the main names don’t mean anything to you yet. In Primark you can find nameless t-shirts, underwear and jackets. In the first, however, you are thousands of pounds, in the second, nothing costs more than 25 pounds.
And in addition to satisfied customers, the two concepts are connected by another – the owner. Through various companies, the Weston family clan owns the eighth place in this year’s edition of the British Times’ richest list, with assets in excess of £ 10.5 billion.
And it was Primark, the popular concept of fast fashion that the family founded and spread around the world, that was one of its main sources of profit. Otherwise, control even a much larger company. In particular, the parent company of Primark Associated British Food, which is one of the largest food companies in the world, or the largest Canadian retail chain Loblaws. However, about four hundred Primark stores in 15 major markets around the world had a monthly withdrawal of £ 650 million before the COVID-19 pandemic broke, making it a jewel in the Weston portfolio.
This year, the “Primark” family was to grow by a Czech store that had the necessary alternative to a Dresden shopper. However, due to the pandemic, a store on the corner of Prague’s Wenceslas Square has officially opened and Opletalova Street has been postponed. And while the office building that will house Primark is likely to be operational as early as December, the launch of the business itself is not only a matter for retailers, but also for the government, which is still restricting retail.
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