Primark have blamed the three periods of unseasonable weather for the sliding in sales.
The fast fashion retailer owned by Associated British Foods, said their sales have fallen by 2.1 per cent for the year.
This year we had a cold spell at the start which then turned into a heatwave, therefore with the unusual weather clothes that were being brought out weren’t suitable for the weather.
Primark sales were up 5% by opening 15 new stores in nine countries totalling 900,000 sq ft of trading space.
In the UK, sales rose by 1.2% and the chain won a bigger share of the clothing market, however, in Europe sales slid down 4.7%.
Primark is different to other stores due to not selling online, instead, they have a better way of posting their most recent stock online; this diverts customers to one of its 360 stores. This a clever way of selling as they will not lose their in-store customers; unless customers no longer shop in Primark, they are unlikely to fall into closing stores as the customers can only reach the products in store.
Primark stated they do not see the business needing to go online as it is too costly for their price points. Primark continues to open new stores which is challenging to other High Street fashion brands as Primark clothes are a more affordable price point and they are here to stay.
Primark have plans to open another one million sq ft of retail space in the next financial year, this includes a 160,000 sq ft store in Birmingham that will be the brands biggest outlet. The city centre store had been due to open before Christmas but has been pushed back to spring.
After the store fire in Belfast was destroyed in August, the retailer will open an outlet in the Commonwealth House in the city and plans to restore the damaged bank building in the longer term.
Belfast Primark fire
Primark also have plans to open large new stores in Bordeaux, Brussels, Utrecht and Milton Keynes in 2019 but they plan to open their first store in Slovenia.
