Primark, Irish value retailer, opening 3rd Long Island store in November

Irish value retailer Primark will open its third Long Island store in November, a year after entering the region with its first location.

Primark will open a 32,700-square-foot store in Smith Haven Mall in Lake Grove on Nov. 9, according to the retailer, which is continuing to accelerate its expansion in the United States.  The store will be in part of a first-floor space that was vacated by JCPenney in 2019. 

Primark sells adults’ and children’s clothing and accessories, as well as home goods, at “extremely affordable prices.”

The Lake Grove store, as well as Primark’s first North Carolina location — opening Nov. 16 in Charlotte — will be the last of the eight stores that Primark will have opened in the U.S. in 2023, the retailer said in a statement Tuesday.

The Lake Grove and Charlotte stores will boost Primark’s U.S. presence to 24 stores across eight states, since it entered the U.S. market with a Boston store in 2015.

“This was never about opening as many stores as quickly as possible, it was about opening in the right locations, with the right store layout and product offering, for the communities we are entering,” Kevin Tulip, president of Primark U.S., said in the statement Tuesday.

“We learned a lot in those early years about what sparks ‘Primania’ for U.S. shoppers and we are finding that our value pricing across women’s, men’s, kids, home, and gifts, have kept American families coming back to us time and time again.”

Primark has 434 stores in Europe and the United States, including one that opened at Roosevelt Field mall in Garden City in November 2022 and one that opened in Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream in June.

The retailer plans to expand across new and existing markets to reach 530 stores globally, including more than 60 in the United States, by the end of 2026.

Primark is a Dublin-headquartered chain that is owned by Associated British Foods PLC, a London-based conglomerate whose five business segments include groceries, agriculture and retail.

Primark was founded in Ireland in 1969 under the Penneys brand, but the name Primark is used for all the retailer's stores outside of Ireland.

(The chain is not affiliated with the JCPenney brand in the United States.)

Primark bills itself as a value retailer but not a discounter.

“Everything we do is built around everyday affordability: from great quality essentials to standout style, trendsetters to multigenerational families, everyone is welcome at Primark,” Primark says on its website.

By Tory N. Parrish

tory.parrish@newsday.comToryParrish1

Tory N. Parrish covers retail and small business for Newsday. She has worked at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and Observer-Dispatch in Utica, N.Y.