Primark opening times: What time do stores open and close today?

PRIMARK finally opened its doors again on Monday as lockdown restrictions in England were eased further.

The high street retailer had been closed since January 4 when the nation was put into the third coronavirus shutdown.

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Primark stores will soon be able to welcome back shoppers againCredit: Reuters

In some Tier 4 areas, shops have been shut for even longer.

Under Boris Johnson’s roadmap out of lockdown, clothes and homeware retailers are among those that could reopen this week.

Primark has 189 shops across the UK – you can find your nearest one by using the locator tool.
Here’s everything you need to know about what to expect when you next visit your nearest branch.

Timeline for businesses reopening after lockdown

PRIME Minister Boris Johnson has outlined his roadmap for easing England out of lockdown.

Businesses will be allowed to reopen on the following dates, as long as the “four steps to freedom” are met. Here’s what we know so far:

April 12

Retail
Hospitality outdoors
Hairdressers
Zoos
Self-catered staycations with one household

May 17

Indoor hospitality
Indoor exercise gyms
Bingo halls
Cinemas
Sports stadiums to reopen but capped to 10,000 fans
Saunas
Spas

June 21

Nightclubs

What time does Primark open and close?

Primark reopened 160 shops in England and Wales on Monday April 12.

It plans on reopening its 20 shops in Scotland on April 26, its owner ABF revealed in a trading statement.

All this week, stores will open for two extra hours per day on average – typically an hour earlier and later.

To find out when your nearest branch opens its door, use the store locator tool by typing in your postcode.

On the first day of reopening, shoppers were spotted queuing outside stores waiting for them to reopen.

One customer told The Sun how she rocked up at 6:50am in the freezing cold to bag some bargains.

The scenes weren’t as shocking as they were when the high street favourite opened its doors again after the last lockdown lifted in December.

At the time, some Primark stores were open for 24 hours.

Keen shoppers lined the streets and queued for Primark in the dark from 5am.

To find your nearest Primark store you can use its locator tool.

Will shopping at Primark be different when stores reopen?

This includes making sure people can keep a safe distance from one another, and staggering shift times.

Primark is reopening with the same extensive social distancing rules and safety measures that fans will have already experienced last summer when shops were allowed to reopen then.

Customers will be asked to sanitise their hands when they enter stores and they will have to wear a mask.

There is social distancing signage, protective screens on the tills and baskets will be sanitised between uses.

Tannoy announcements will remind shoppers of social distancing rules and encourage them to cover their nose and mouths.

Primark is also extending its returns policy for shoppers.

Customers who’ve got a receipt that says they can return items from January 31 onwards have an additional 28 days from when shops open.

It has also paused the expiry dates on gift cards, so shoppers can use ones that expired during lockdown.

Fitting rooms are still closed – but Primark says it will keep this policy under review.

There will be extra security on the door to help manage the huge numbers of shoppers expected to turn up.

Here is the list of rules shoppers will have to follow from today when the high street reopens

Will there be a Primark sale?

Fashion fans may be disappointed to know Primark said it hasn’t launched a reopening sale.

A spokesperson told The Sun: “We have carefully reviewed our stock and we will follow our normal approach, which will mean no special sales or offers.”

But The Sun has found a way to spot “secret” sale items in stores.

These items can be reduced by half or more of their original price.

Every store will have a small number of reduced items and these are marked using red stickers.

The items are usually end of season items or stock that is being discontinued.

If shoppers want to find the hidden bargains then they should ask a member of Primark’s customer service staff to point them out.

Some stores may even have a rail of sale items – but it does vary between stores.

But only a tiny proportion of stock is discounted.

When we visited Primark’s Westfield store in London last week ahead of the fashion giant’s reopening today, we found just two jumpers marked down in price.

Primark didn’t launch a sale when stores reopened in June either.

This was despite the retailer building up almost £2billion-worth of unsold stock during previous lockdowns, due to not selling clothes online.

The retailer has previously warned how its monthly sales have plummeted from £650million a month to nothing.