‘We’re really optimistic about this market’: Primark is upping advertising in the U.S.

Primark, which launched in Dublin in 1969 as the brand Penneys, has spent the last decade slowly building up its U.S. business. It opened its first U.S. store in Boston in 2015, then expanded to markets like Chicago, New York City and Philadelphia. In 2024, Primark funneled $90 million into boosting its U.S. footprint, including opening a distribution center in Florida. In October, Primark announced it was planning a New York City flagship near Penn Station, and in December, it opened its 29th store in the U.S. in Texas. Primark aims to have 60 U.S. stores by the end of 2026.

Even as it continues its U.S. expansion, Primark is staying true to its roots as a brick-and-mortar retailer. On the whole, Primark’s marketing efforts revolve around bringing people to its 400+ stores worldwide, and it’s been slower to move over to e-commerce. Primark briefly tested click-and-collect in the U.K., but its digital channels mainly serve to highlight inventory and show what’s in stock. In May 2023, Primark launched a revamped U.S. website that has social tie-ins but does not allow for digital transactions.

Primark is well known in Europe — it’s the third-biggest apparel retailer in the U.K., according to Retail Economics — but its advertising efforts in the U.S. are in “growth mode,” Rene Federico, head of marketing for Primark U.S., told Modern Retail in an exclusive interview. “We’re really optimistic about this market, and we are looking for ways to accelerate our ability to serve that growth opportunity,” she said. “I hope that every single person that lives within some proximity of a Primark in the U.S. becomes a shopper of ours.”

Federico, who joined Primark U.S. from Converse in May, spoke with Modern Retail about how the company is courting new customers while also staying true to its roots. Below are highlights of the interview, which has been edited for length and clarity.

Primark’s approach to marketing

“A lot of what we’re doing is new to the business, not only to the U.S. business but also to the business globally. And it’s not that we haven’t had a really long track record of creating marketing or storytelling. It’s more just a shift towards, ‘Hey, how can the marketing and brand functions serve to tell the stories of Primark?’

What we’re focused on is finding new pathways to build awareness for our brand here in the U.S… We know that there are already folks in the U.S. that love Primark. How do we serve those audiences and customers, and how do we build capacity to bring our stories to new ones? And then the third thing really is to focus around process and what it means to run an integrated marketing offense…

We do know that once people experience our brand or shop our stores, they can’t help but love what we have to offer. They find that in different ways, whether it’s through the quality of the products that we have or the wide range of assortments… or honestly, affordability, as well.”

Past and future campaigns

“Back in early November, we wrapped our first U.S. brand campaign. Really, this was a proof-of-concept opportunity for us to drive that top-funnel activity. We shot two spots around this concept of falling in love with Primark. We ran it across multiple channels: traditional out-of-home, digital out-of-home and consumer platforms like Meta and TikTok…

Second to that, we are in the process of working with our creative agency on a brand campaign that will launch in mid-April. Before we can get shoppers and customers excited about who we are and what we have to offer, they have to know we exist. And so we’re saying, first and foremost, ‘Are you aware of the brand? And if you’re aware of the brand, would you consider coming shopping with us?’ Then, we’ll drive them further into the funnel from there.”

The role of Primark’s website

“Certainly, the website serves as a beacon for us as a brand. As part of our strategy, we do want people to visit the website and use the features that it has to offer, like the stock checker, store locator, all those things that kind of gauge whether or not a consumer is considering shopping with us…

We certainly are looking at the level of storytelling we’re able to offer on the website, as well. Are consumers going there because something about a brand campaign has piqued their interest, and they want to interact and engage with that in some way? Or are they just interested in knowing more about what we have to offer across men’s, women’s, kids and home? From our perspective, that’s how we feed into that strategy.”

Building hype around the New York flagship

“I will say that there’s a palpable amount of excitement around the announcement and the pending opening of that 34th Street store at Penn Plaza… We know that when you have a Manhattan-based store in the United States, you matter to retail, you matter to fashion, you matter to consumers. So we’re really excited about that store for a number of reasons.

In and of itself, it’s an entity for marketing, and we will certainly find ways to use that store in unique ways as we launch this campaign [in the spring]. And also, once that store does open in 2026, we’ll continue to use that store as an epicenter of energy for the brand.”