Primark is expanding its stateside presence.
The British cheap and chic value chain will open two new stores inside Macerich’s retail and mixed-use properties, the real estate investment trust (REIT) confirmed Monday. The two-level stores will open at the posh Tysons Corner Center in the Virginia suburbs outside of Washington, D.C., and in a site formerly occupied by JCPenney at Long Island’s Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream, N.Y.
The new stores add to the four Primark locations already in Macerich’s portfolio, including three open brick and mortars in Connecticut’s Danbury Fair Mall, New Jersey’s Freehold Raceway Mall, and Brooklyn’s Kings Plaza Shopping Center. A two-level Market Street flagship at Fashion District Philadelphia is expected to open later this year. Primark has 12 U.S. stores in total, and more than 390 worldwide.
Macerich noted that demand for leases is returning to levels seen before Covid-19. So far this year, it added, “shopper traffic and sales are continuing to steadily rise with the loosening of restrictions” within the major markets where it operates.
Tom Meager, group property director at Primark, said the pair of new stores supports the retailer’s “ambitious growth strategy in the United States.”
“We’ve seen a great reaction to our latest U.S. openings and are excited to bring Primark’s unique formula of ‘Amazing Fashion at Amazing Prices’ to more customers in new locations throughout the U.S.,” he added.
With a strategy that eschews e-commerce in betting solely on stores, Primark has suffered massive losses resulting from rolling global lockdowns. But the Associated British Foods-owned retailer is forging ahead with plans to open additional locations, including eight stores in Italy. It also launched a recycling program last summer, giving consumers an outlet to responsibly discard clothing that can be rerouted to new owners or reworked as mattress insulation or fluff for stuffed animals.