A bit of a jumble sale (Primark)

Member Name: wendz86

Product:	Primark
Date:	05/02/09 (199 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Can get some good cheap basic items

Disadvantages: Bad quality and messy stores

Primark used to be one of my favourite stores, I have now gone off it a bit but still do visit now and then. Primark first came to my hometown of Southampton when I was a teenager. To start with it just seemed to be a cheap place to buy underwear and for families to buy clothing. Then suddenly a few years ago it became the fashionable place to shop.

Primark now has many stores around the UK. I have visited a few of these stores and can definitely say that they vary so much between stores.

The store offers a variety of items to be purchased. The main purpose of the store is selling clothing but is also sells home wear items as well now. It sells everything from work clothes to party clothes, from underwear to outerwear and from shoes to bags. There are clothes for all members of the family - men, women and children.

The best thing about Primark as a store is obviously the prices. You can buy items of clothing from as little as £1 for vest tops and £8 for a pair of jeans. I personally think though that the prices have been creeping up a little bit and everything is a bit more expensive now. It is though still very cheap. The prices are probably the reason the store is packed full of people filling their baskets with items. I have seen people in the store spending hundreds, which always amazes me. If I had that much money to spare I would not be shopping in Primark.

I find you can get some very good basic items for good value prices in Primark. I particularly like the vest tops and bikinis and other useful items for holidays. Some of the accessories are quite good for the price too. I have also had a couple of nice dresses in the sale, which I still wear. People are always amazed when I say they came from Primark. I also think they do a good range of children's clothes. I have not got any children so could not comment on the quality of these clothes but they are cheap which is good for children who grow so fast.

I have also on the other hand had lots of problems with items that I have purchased. I have purchased shoes that have fallen apart within a couple of weeks and bags that have done the same. The Ugg type boots that I purchased were ruined after a few times wear. If you are not going to use the items much then I think it is probably fine to buy them from Primark. If on the other hand you want last then do not buy things from this shop. I have now taken to buying items from more expensive stores just because I know they will last me so much longer I am getting more value from them.

Another problem is that since it became to popular everyone seems to have all the items so you know exactly where people got the item. This also means that everyone else knows that what you are wearing is from Primark. When on holiday last year I had comments of 'oh I have that dress from Primark too'. I would prefer people didn't know from first glance that is where I shopped!

The stores themselves as I said previously vary widely. I have been in some messy, unorganised stores, which don't seem to have many good items in such as the Southampton one. I have also been in Primark stores in Poole and Oxford, which have had so much more choice and have been tidy and easy to look around. It is obviously dependent on the amount of people that visit and also the staff they have in the store. I think the places with nicer stores tend to be slightly less busy locations. The messy stores sometimes end up looking like a jumble sale, which makes me want to leave straight away. When everything is nicely hung up and organised though I find it quite enjoyable having a look around.

I do like the way that Primark stores organise all the items into section such as work clothes, summer clothes, accessories etc. This makes it easy to find the section you wish to go to.

Another issue I have with Primark stores is the size of their queues. They always seem to be massive whenever I go especially when people are buying millions of items in front of you. This sometimes discourages me to purchase as I usually only want to buy a couple of items. They staff though to tend to serve as quickly as possible. The tills allow you to pay on card or by cash.

I have returned an item before as I decided I did not want it anymore and the staff member at the customer service desk was very helpful. I had no problem returning the item, which was good.

Overall although you can buy the occasional good item at Primark, I have had so many problems with quality it has put me off!

Summary: Good for basics but nothing more