[ALERT] Primark to Enter Metro Atlanta Market

In a move more than ten years in the making, Irish retailer Primark will in 2026 make its metro Atlanta debut.  The retailer will open a new store at Sugarloaf Mills in Lawrenceville in a roughly 30,000 square foot space that was originally and until 2020 home to Neiman Marcus Last Call, the luxury retailer's off-price banner.

The new Lawrenceville store will mark the second in the state for the company.  Primark revealed plans in March to open a new store at Augusta Mall in Augusta.  The Augusta store is planned for a portion of the mall's former Sears (3450 Wrightsboro Road) which has been closed since April 2020. (The company has yet to announce an opening in Augusta, but there is hope it will happen before the end of the year.)  

Primark last February opened a new 550,000 square foot distribution center in Jacksonville, which will aid the retailer in its planned expansion across the south.  Primark first started in Ireland in 1969, but it was not until 2015 that the company entered the U.S. market with a store in Boston. Since then, the company has expanded to 31 stores across about a dozen states.  The company has previously stated it plans to have 60 stores open across the country by 2026.    

Primark is a purveyor of "fast fashion," an industry characterized by cheap garments designed to be disposable.  In addition to clothing for men, women, kids, and babies, the retailer offers accessories and footwear, beauty products, housewares, and some food items.    The company has licensing agreements with Netflix, Hello Kitty, Disney, and Marvel, as well as the NFL, MLS, and NBA.  Primark also has active collaborations with singer and actress Rita Ora, as well as the late artist Keith Haring.    

According to an article about Primark in The Economist, "For many shoppers, Primark has an irresistible offer: trendy clothes at astonishingly low prices. The result is a new and even faster kind of fast fashion, which encourages consumers to buy heaps of items, discard them after a few wears and then come back for another batch of new outfits."  

Fellow fast fashion retailer Forever 21 filed for bankruptcy in March for the second time in six years and subsequently closed all of its remaining 350 U.S. stores.  

Seemingly realizing society's increased interest in sustainability, Primark indicates that it will be "making all of its clothes from recycled or more sustainably sourced materials by 2030, halving carbon emissions across its value chain and pursuing a living wage for workers in its supply chain."  Additionally, a section of its website - Love It For Longer - provides tips and tutorials on sewing and mending with videos and even in-store classes.    

As for the potential for additional expansion into the metro Atlanta area, the former Forever 21 at Lenox Square in Buckhead seems likely to draw interest.  

Have you ever been to Primark?  Do you view Primark as better than most "fast fashion" brands?  Where else in metro Atlanta would you like to see Primark open?  

Please share your thoughts below.