No, we won’t be calling it Primark for any reason.
Got any friends from overseas that try and correct you every time you say you’re popping out to Penneys? Yep, we know the feeling. [Featured Image: Truus, Bob & Jan too!, Flickr].
It isn’t half confusing that Penney’s is referred to as Primark literally everywhere outside Ireland, but dammit it’s an Irish company, and it started as Penneys!
Where it all began, 50 years ago this year. The first Primark shop – trades as Penneys in Ireland of course, but that name couldn’t be used in the UK. pic.twitter.com/cD7FeGkOSt
— George MacDonald (@GeorgeMacD) July 8, 2019
Penneys is the handy chain everyone knows for buying clothes and other such useful items. But, have you ever wondered why it’s only called by its real name here in Ireland? Well, even if you hadn’t here’s why.
Penney’s opened in 1969 for the first time in Dublin. After five-years the brand decided to branch out of Ireland into the UK and possibly beyond. However, they began using the name Primark to avoid a legal clash with the US retailer JC Penney.
So, the store kept the original name, Penneys, in all of the Irish stores — but for every other store, they went with Primark. People in the UK may think they’re right, but we were first on this one!
So there you have it. Very confusing, but we know one thing for sure. Even though stores with the name Primark outnumber the Penneys outlets, you’ll still never catch us referring to it with the former’s name.