Budget clothes for the young and the beautiful - but not for the big . (Primark)

Member Name: thehonesttruth

Product:	Primark
Date:	08/07/09 (64 review reads)
Rating:

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In these credit crunch days, many people are looking to find fashion al a lower price , and Primark is undoubtedly one of the market leaders in this field.

The Primark store in Nottingham is located just of the market square, right in the middle of the city centre . It's a large store, and has all the departments you'd expect - womenswear, menswear, childrens clothes, and some homeware .

Stepping into the store is a daunting experience - it's something of a cross between a jumble sale and a rock gig . Clothing is piled on racks and tables in disordered piles , sometimes with items lying on the floor, while women laden with shopping bags try to battle, elbows pushed out, for a bit of breathing space and the chance to have a rummage at one of these tables . The overall impression is chaotic - and not something I enjoy . I like to shop at a leisurely pace in a comfortable environment, not being jostled.

Luckily for me, I can skip the chaos in womenswear, as they don't cater for any of my sizes - I'm a size 22, with e cup boobs, and size 9 feet . There is literally NOTHING in this section I can wear, which sadly is the case with many of the lower priced clothing stores .

This is a real shame, as the fashions are pretty good - a mixture of up to the minute trends and some classics, catering for all fashion tastes from neon 80's to gothic glam . I have to admit to occasionally seeing some utterly laughable items in the mix too - neon framed sunglasses that instead of lenses had lines of plastic across the eyes ...strange!

A browse through the menswear department reveals a similar mix of current fashion and classic cuts, and again, sizing is an issue, with larger men not catered for particularly well!

However, I will give this store credit for children's wear - everything from mix and match shorts and vest sets, to smart party dresses . Recently, I went shopping for my daughter, and purchased some wellies, some canvas baseball boots, 10 pairs of socks, 7 pairs of knickers, and two t-shirts for under £17 . This is excellent, especially as children grow so fast, and also tend to ruin clothing with stains quickly . I imagine this would also be handy for those with very young babies, with kids clothing starting from as little as a pound .

The homeware section sells towels, bed linen, and toiletries, all at very good prices, and is the least crowded area of the store . However, it still has that jumble sale look, which rather puts me off spending much time looking around .

Its always worth bearing in mind that you get what you pay for - Primark clothing seems fragile and not really designed to last . Since the only items of clothing I am able to buy there are kids clothes, this isn't really an issue, as I don't expect my daughter to fit into them or keep them clean for longer than a few months anyway . If I were able to buy anything for myself here, I think I would probably prefer for certain items (such as jeans and trousers) to buy them elsewhere, paying more for better quality. I would probably buy some cheap tops quite happily though .

All clothing areas have changing rooms - however, there is always a huge queue for these.

The staff here are overstretched - queues for the tills are long, and due to this you lose a lot in customer service - a grunted hello, whoosh whoosh whoosh, here's your change, bye. I don't feel like a customer here, more like I am an inconvenience who must be gotten rid of as soon as possible .

Overall, Primark sells fashionable clothing at cheap prices . But it's not designed to last long, which is fine for kids wear, but not so much for my own clothing . Which doesn't matter, since they don't cater for my size! Its also a claustrophobic, messy environment - due more to customers not having respect for the clothing and putting it back nicely than to the staff .

I would also say that the majority of ladies wear at least is aimed at people below 40 , I feel more mature women may struggle to find clothing here .

I like primark for kids clothes, but I hate shopping there due to the cattlemarket atmosphere and the fact that they do nothing in my size making me feel a bit of a heifer . I'll give it 3 stars - I do feel it is good for budget clothing, and I have gotten some bargains there, but it's not really somewhere I LIKE shopping .

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