Primark is in an ongoing process of optimizing its store portfolio. The Irish textile discounter has just closed several locations in Germany, but it also has a new store concept in the pipeline that will be used for three new stores. The company is investing a total of 12.5 million euros in these areas.
Today the first German Primark store in five years opens in the Ostsee Park Rostock shopping center in Lambrechtshagen. The company therefore has 28 locations in Germany. At the opening, Sandra Luxem-Bremen, Managing Director of Primark Germany and Austria, provides insights into the company’s current strategy.
Business in Germany profitable again
“The new store symbolizes the turning point that our company has reached,” said Luxem-Bremen in a statement about the opening on Wednesday. “Through a strategic realignment, we are once again closer to the needs of our customers and, as a result, economically successful.”
Over the past three years, Primark has adjusted its store network and the size of its retail space. This resulted in five stores – in Gelsenkirchen, Weiterstadt, Krefeld, Berlin and Kaiserslautern – being closed. There is also the Düsseldorf location, which will close its doors at the beginning of 2026.
The reasons given by the Germany boss for the closures are that the stores were often too large, spread over several floors and were located too close to each other in some places. Primark has a corporate responsibility to check every location for economic viability, which could lead to further closures, but also to new openings.
By restructuring its store network, Primark was able to improve its area productivity and achieve higher profitability. Overall, the German business is profitable again, Luxem-Bremen confirmed in a press interview with a view to the past year. The focus is now on future growth, which will be driven even further by the new store concept. Primark continues to invest in the German market and has not completed the transformation.
New store concept with self-checkout and smaller sales areas
When it comes to new stores, the company places a particular focus on regions in which it has not yet had a presence or has not had such a strong presence, as was the case with Rostock for Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. Additionally, another location will open in Regensburg on December 3rd. A store is also planned in Mülheim-Kärlich near Koblenz, for which there is no official opening date yet. Together, the three stores are expected to create around 150 new jobs. No further locations are currently being planned, but Primark is interested in expanding its store portfolio in both city center and specialty store locations.
A new store concept is being launched for the three new stores, which focuses on more compact spaces, which are on average around 2,500 square meters in size and are limited to one floor on the ground floor, as well as a locally oriented range. The ground-level layout reduces the need for elevators, escalators and stairs and makes the store more accessible. Self-checkout cash registers will also be integrated for the first time. Meanwhile, the presentation of the goods remains basically unchanged.
The Rostock store covers a sales area of around 2,800 square meters, offering women’s, men’s and children’s fashion as well as accessories, beauty products and travel items. Decorative items are not included in the product range at this location in order to respond more to customer needs as part of the local focus.
Overall, Primark looks at the product range individually for each location – what the industry mix is, what retail activities there are in the area and therefore what the local customers still need. In a rural region, this could mean a focus on basics, while, for example, more fashionable and business-oriented pieces are bought on Frankfurt’s busy Zeil shopping mile, explained Luxem-Bremen.
“We have successfully repositioned ourselves,” says Luxem-Bremen. “This applies to the range and collection, to regional distribution within Germany as well as adaptation to local needs.”
The location in Rostock is the first in Germany to be equipped with self-checkout cash registers. Ten self-service checkouts are available to customers there, while only four checkouts are equipped with salespeople – a significant reduction compared to the long checkout tables that were previously common and can be found on several floors.