to ask what, exactly, is the problem with Primark?

[waltermittymissus]

Seems that it's a dirty word on mumsnet lately.

In Ireland it's called Penneys and people love it (I think!)

Anway, just wondered if you think it's awful why is it awful?

I'm not a fan. The stores are piled high with tat, the customer service is non-existent (god help you if you need to find someone for a different size, etc), checkout queues are huge. I just find it overwhelming.

Our local TK Maxx is ok - I've got some really good bargains there. I got my summer holiday wardrobe out of Sainsbury's, so I'm not a clothes snob.

But Primark, I cannot abide

Some of my primark stuff has lasted years, including bedding, much longer than some clothes from more expensive stores.

I don't like most of the women's clothing in there but I have got some nice simple things. Most of the children's stuff is good, there are a few things that make me but I find that in most shops. Most of my clothes come from Tesco/Asda now, but when my DCs were babies I got virtually everything in primark. For example the sleepsuits and vests lasted both babies perfectly whereas mothercare ones went bobbly, faded and misshapen.

The things I don't like about my local primark are that the store is often a mess (although it has improved lately so I wonder if they have new management) and the fact the staff are always disinterested and grumpy in there.

I got vest tops from Primark which I use as layering under my tops for BF-ing. Got nice bit of stretch and they've washed and washed really well so far. £2 each and a bargain for discreet feeding!

My Mum used to work in a local factory where they made a variety of food products - They distributed to all of the shops - She says that they used to clean the machines down everynight and the first shops stuff would be made first thing with the cleanest machines and the freshest ingredients - These products would go to M&S - Then it would go down and down until the end of the day.

They used exactly the same machinery and exactly the same ingredients - The only thing that changed were the times of day. I'm fairly sure this is how a lot of the cheaper high street stores work - The slightly better ones get first choice for fabric etc but everything else is pretty much the same, the same 5 year old kids are sewing up your hems whether or not you shop in Primark, Next or TopShop - The difference is Primark don't charge you the earth for a cheap tshirt but the others do to try to hide it!

I love a bit of Primark, we are lucky enough to hav a relatively small one by us, in a small village so its never too busy but always has lovely stock - I love their kids PJs and the mens Tshirts - They are much better quality than some we have bought from M&S. I'd never wear everything they have but thats the point - They can afford to put a shed load of fashions under one roof because its so blardy cheap.

Not interested in snobbery over prices. Never really got that kind of thing.

However, if anyone is genuinely concerned about ethical shopping, you'd be better looking at the Good Shopping Guide than guessing.

I have a 2006 edition, and in the simplified overall table, the following got the "Good Shopping Guide Ethical Company" stamp of approval:
General Clothing/Seasalt
H &M Hennes
Marks & Spencer
People Tree
Zara

Their jersey long sleeved t-shirts are a staple of my work wardrobe - I've got one in every colour (£4 each) and they're on their 3rd season now.

Asda on the other hand, is god awful rubbish these days.

primark is great, although i have stopped spending as much in there since it opened in our local shopping centre
i cant fault the stuff its ideal work work trousers, knickers, socks casual stuff - the majority of the stuff i have bought has lasted well

yes some of the clothes would be classed as throw away fashion but i wold rather spend £10 on a top i might wear a few times than £30 from say top shop

and im in the middle of trying to lose weight so i dont want to spend heaps of cash on clothes that hopefully i wont be fitting into this time next year

I don't avoid Primark because of the clothes, but because their shops are always filthy. They are bunged, clothes are just piled up on tables and everything is a mess.
Also the last time I was in a Primark-about ten years ago, I heard a mum tell her daughter to shut up or she would smack her f**king face in.
The place is always depressing.

DD treated herself to a full price top shop jumper and it snags when you look at it.

Yes it's a lacy layering top, but it's still awful.

I hate the Primark experience, it's so busy and hot and messy and aargh. But the bargains you can pick up make it worth it sometimes.

The sizing is bloody terrible though, it's like they dropped a huge box of size labels in the factory and just ran around sticking them on things randomly

Depends on the store.

The local Primark is a higgledy piggledy mass of slung clothes, babies in push chairs in too small aisles and what seems like hundreds of teenage girls in the queue buying hair accessories. Lakeside Primark on the other hand is a divine shopping experience with a well thought out lay out, wide aisles no school children space to move about, sufficient tills, no buggies and little in the way of queues.

BigJessie, I've got the 2011 guide; H&M and M&S have gone from the good overall table, but New Look are there!

FCUK, Tesco & George all score terribly on the animal welfare & others in the 'avoid' table are Gap, Matalan, Primark, River Island & Tu.

There isn't a Primark near where I live so I don't go there much but if I'm near one I will go in, I have a few t-shirts that have washed & worn well considering the price.

The thing I detest about it thought, is that it's such a mess. It's like a jumble sale half the time, things just heaped on tables where people have rummaged through and just left it, clothes rails (the type they use for moving things, not for display) just shoved anywhere. The staff don't have a clue, you ask if they have something and they shrug and say "dunno."

My mouth is so wide open that a nasa rocket might fit. I am also annoyed- I bought some children's clothes in M&S earlier this year. Bugger.

Well its September now so I'm going to risk singing this song

Penney's - gotta whole lotta things for Christmas, gotta lot for the family.
love it!

M&S: I want my £10 back!

I hate Primark as the only thing that fits me from there are the umbrellas.

haha jeremy!

Oh 24hours I'm singing along! A classic!

After the last hideous experience I decided never to go into primark unless it was early on a week day, out of school holidays. I hate crowds, being shoved, hearing shouty, sweary mums and kids, wading through clothes carelessly dropped on a filthy floor, watching people contribute carelessly to said mess and then facing being 50th in a queue before I can escape. It was hell. There were people behaving like animals and I don't want to be in their company.

Why hate primark?
Let me count the ways.
Horrible, horrible fabrics. A lot of stuff is made with very shoddy cotton, or nasty polyester.
No customer service.
hot, crowded,depressing.
And yes,ethically bankrupt,in terms of child labour,the way they treat their staff, right down to the whole concept of throwaway fashion.
Yes, other stores are as bad, but that doesnt make it ok!thanks those posted who have gone to te trouble of finding out which retailers don't have five year ok sewing their clothes, rather than just shrugging about it. I alas skint as anyone. I et most stuff from charity shops.

Bloody autocorrect !

I don't shop there because I hate the shopping experience which other psters have described.
Piled high, items crammed on rails, no one tidying the stock, grabbiness...just not what I like.
i don't want high fashion throwaway items.
Dd very occasionally buys something from there but prefers topshop.
She'd rather have 2 tops than 6 cheaper ones.

Oh yes - I too fare well out of the local charity shops. As I have tried to explain, it's nowt to do with my nose being in the air. I just don't rate Primark as being among my preferences. I know people are desperate for me to be a frightful snob, but it's not the case.