Disposable Fashion (Primark)

Member Name: Napally

Product:	Primark
Date:	14/03/09 (86 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Price

Disadvantages: Highly unethical, always crowded, always chaotic. Clothes aren't amazing.

Me and Primark have somewhat of a love/hate affair (how tempestuous!) but before I get to that, let me share a few details about the company for people who might not have been able to get to one of the stores.

Primark is a budget retail group, with stores scattered around the UK, Ireland (trades as Penney's there.), Holland and Spain. In all there are 187 stores altogether. They sell the clothes at a highly competitive price and have many of the big highstreet trends in store immediately. However, they have also come under fire from Watchdog groups for links with sweatshops in the UK and have also been voted the least ethical store in the UK. I also know from friends who have worked for the company that (in their individual cases) they have been treated highly unfairly and even resignation letters have been ignored. But I digress!

I suppose my one positive point about this store is that the clothes are cheap. Yes, it does come at a price for other people but when you are forced to live on a student budget (and let's face it, clothes don't last forever!), sometimes you have to shop in a place you dispise. I have purchased bra's from there, shirts, socks etc and have found them all to be exceptionally cheap in comparison to other highstreet stores. On average, shirts are under £10, underwear is as low as £1.00 a pair and you can get packs of socks for £1.50. Can't complain about that!

However, that is about as positive as it gets. Firstly the stores always resemble a jumble sale. There is a perpetual state of chaos whenever I enter Primark only an hour after opening and while I appreciate that the store cannot be completely blamed for this, it puts me off going in there. If I'm looking for something then I want to just be able to go and find it, and not have to rummage under piles of misplaced clothes and accessories in an attempt to chance upon something!

Likewise, they are always excessively crowded! The amount of times I have had to shuffle along in a mass of shoppers is ridiculous. Are there no health and safety limits on how many people can be crammed into a shop? My sanity suffers when I go into Primark and yes, there is a heavy bias on the shoppers being to blame at this point but unfortunately my treatment from employee's hasn't been that much better either. In one instance, I was going to faint so had to sit down and was then asked to move by a security guard for being a fire harzard. Seems a little bit ridiculous considering how many people they allow into the store but it's just my opinion :)

The clothes aren't amazing either. Occasionally you will find an item of clothing that is superbly made and won't drop apart but this is a rare occurance. The amount of times I have bought something from there only for it to then break or disintergrate only a month later is unfunny! Fair enough, I'm paying very little but that doesn't mean I have spare cash laying around to buy the same item of clothing again!

I'm giving Primark a score of 2/5. I have to say that the Customer Services team have always been friendly and helpful with me when I have had to return items and the clothes are reasonably priced but at what expense of ethics? If you want cheap clothing but with better quality then shop somewhere like New Look. They are an ethical store, still cheap and I don't have to fight to find something in there!

Summary: There are better shops out there!