Primark Pushes Ahead with German Expansion Amid Sales Slowdown

Primark expands in Northern Europe. The Irish low-cost fashion company has reactivated its plans for the expansion of its store network in the German market with the opening of its first store in five years. This store will be located in the Ostsee Park Rostock shopping center in the north of the country, and will be followed by another in the Donau-Einkaufszentrum shopping center in Regensburg, located in the state of Bavaria, on December 3rd.

With the creation of 100 new jobs, the company has resumed its expansion in Germany after five years since it last opened a store in the country. According to Sandra Luxem-Bremen, Primark’s sales director for Germany and Austria, the plan is to open two more stores to reverse the decline in sales in the country.

According to the annual report of Associated British Foods, the company’s parent company, Primark’s declining sales in Germany led to a 1% decrease in the company’s sales in Northern Europe at the end of the company’s fiscal year, which ended on September 13.

Primark reduced its turnover in Northern Europe by 1% at the end of its fiscal year 2025, while Spain and Portugal grew by 5%

Primark has closed five stores in Germany in recent years, and was planning another for the first quarter of next year, with the aim of spreading itself better across the country. “Some stores were too big or too close together, while in some regions the brand was not present,“ Luxem-Bremen said.

The company posted a flat sales performance at the close of its fiscal 2025, with a turnover of 9.489 billion pounds ($12.4 billion), up 0.4% on last year, when it ended the year with a turnover of 9,448 million pounds. 

By markets, sales in the United Kingdom and Ireland fell by 1% this year, although they still account for 45% of the business, but Europe continued to be its main market, accounting for 49% of the total, with a 2% increase in turnover.

The giant then pointed to a slowdown in consumption in the British market, which moderated in the second half of the year. However, new openings in Europe partially offset the drop in like-for-like sales in this period.

With Portugal and Spain sharing 17% of the business, and growing by 5% in revenue, France and Italy remained the same, with 16% of sales, and Northern Europe, which accounts for 13% of the total, posted a 1% decline in revenue.