Primark plans to open a further 130 stores, despite losing £2bn in sales during the pandemic lockdowns.
The retailer, which is owned by Associated British Foods and the Weston family, said it had confidence in its bricks-and-mortar strategy and would not be setting up a transactional website.
“We didn’t ever doubt the business model as the most cost-effective way to retail,” said ABF boss George Weston. “Our problem was that we were shut.”
Primark has 398 shops in 14 countries, but the low-cost retailer said it would expand to 530 stores, opening 60 new ones in the US – but only “east of the Mississippi” – over the next five years.
The other new openings will be concentrated in Iberia, Italy and Eastern Europe.
