RECon 2014: Primark made the right move in taking its time to open in the US, according to Gene Spiegelman, vice chairman, retail at Cushman & Wakefield, speaking at RECon 2014.
The budget clothes retailer, owned by Associated British Foods, will open its first store in the US next year. It will take 70,000 sq ft in the 100 year-old former Filene’s department store building in Boston. Cushman & Wakefield advised on the deal.
Primark has also said it is negotiating to open up to eight further stores in north-east America, with warehousing to support them.
Spiegelman said: “Many retailers have come to the US and not been successful, so this is not an easy move. And even the most successful [retailers] have periods of great success, then they have periods of adjustment to re-establish their footing and move forward.”
He added: “We hope they will be successful. I know they hope they will be successful. They are very smart business people who run a smart business model. And by constantly paying attention to what they are doing here – they are going to have lessons to learn like everyone has lessons to learn – I think in the long term they will be successful.”
C&W also brought H&M to the US in the 1990s, and was responsible for bringing US chain Whole Foods to the UK.
noella.pio.kivlehan@estatesgazette.com
Listen to the full interview with Gene Spiegelman here or download Recon 2014: Primark pushes in the US from Estates Gazette’s iTunes channel
