Primark in Shrewsbury to open within months bringing 100 jobs
Primark will open a new store in Shrewsbury within months and bring 100 new jobs to the town, it has been confirmed.
Work to transform empty shopping units in the Darwin Shopping Centre in to the new Primark store is on schedule, according to the fashion chain.
The proposed opening of the fashion chain's latest store is projected to be in late spring or early summer.
The 30,600sq ft discount clothing retail store – which will have men's, women's and children's departments – will take over the nine units within the shopping centre left vacant by retailers including TK Maxx, Currys, Dorothy Perkins and JD Sports.
Guernsey-based UK Commercial Property Trust Limited, the company which owns the centre, announced in July that it had appointed McLaughlin & Harvey as the main contractor for the project.
The company has also been giving the shopping centre a facelift with improvements to the ground floor areas and atrium.
The new Primark is a first for Shrewsbury and will be spread across two floors in the shopping centre.
Since work began last summer, McLaughlin & Harvey have undertaken a major refurbishment of the public areas, including new floors, ceilings and lighting.
The only other Primark store in the county is based in Telford Town Centre.
Eleni Menikou, spokeswoman for Primark said: "Primark expects to open a 30,600sq ft (retail) store in Shrewsbury in 2017 and 100 jobs will be created."
Once the main alteration work is completed – and it is believed this will finish next month – the company will then fit out the unit ahead of the store's proposed opening in spring/summer 2017. The entire refit of the nine units is thought to have cost in the region of £12 million.
The work to the public areas of the shopping centre – which is home to a number of stores including Marks and Spencers, Top Shop, River Island and Pandora – is due to be completed at the end of March 2017.
Contractors have been working to upgrade the public areas out of opening hours to minimise disruption to trading.
Polly Warrack, consultant for strategic communications from FTI Consulting, speaking on behalf of the owners of the centre, said: "Work on the unit is progressing well with completion of the store shell due in December, with the opening of Primark after their fit-out on schedule for spring/summer 2017."
