Primark - how on earth do they do it?

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Yesterday, I bought in Primark for the first time.

I have been in a few of their shops, but felt to overwelmed by all the stuff and chaos to do any more then leave again swiftly.

Anyway, I saw this really nice wool dress (lined)for £12!! I was very pleased with it, but am now a bit guilty that it may have been made by 5 year olds in some slave labour sweat shop in the far east - otherwise how on earth could their stuff be so cheap?

Are Primark any worse than other companies? Can I shop there guilt free or should my first purchase be my last?

"But the point being that Primark's target audience is not generally very poor people, it's people with some money but not necessarily inteliigent, who will spend £200 on tat that is in fashion and then throw it away rather than a few quality items. You can try and educate them but good bloody luck."

Charming. I shop there because I can get more for my money true, but because I can't afford much and as others have said on this thread I find some of their stuff washes and lasts well.

We need to demand more transparency.

Paying a lot for a garment is absolutely no guarentee that the people who made it were paid a living wage.

I would like to see the hourly rate of pay for the lowest paid worker involved in the production of each item we consume. Then perhaps we can make better informed decisions.

I mean that I would like to see this rate of pay quoted on the price ticket alongside the price

There's a difference I think between a living if basic wage in somewhere like Indonesia, and the wahes many are paid now. I don't suppose each owninga car and their own home is very likely but being able to eat thre times a day and buy basic medications is a basic right in my opinion. Paying that cost in these countries is still going to be cheaper than paying it here or even in Europe- actually DH's old company moved to Portugal built big factories.... two years later trhey ahd to install car parks as the lifestyle ahd increased so much and the staff were emanding it- Is eriosuly suspect it will still therefore be cheaper to source from the countries they already do buy from than to just shut up shop and go elsewhere.

But a lot of it ahs to come from the stores or the Government- if its the countries themselves then there will always be another fifty countries lined up despearte to replace them; it is only by policing ourselves that these peoples situations can change.

Janeite, considering these governments think nothing of creaming off taxes on food that was sent by Live Aid and letting their people starve whilst they live in luxury, I'd say yes that's naive.

Well - we can live in hope. If the companies put pressure on then the governments would have to get their house in order more. Unfortunately the companies like the situation just as it is, it seems.

What about shops like East and Monsoon - most of their clothes are made in North Africa or the Far East and cost 10x more than Primark garments - find it difficult to believe that there are 2 tiers of factories in Bangladesh, one where child labourers are being paid 50p per day to turn out clothes for Primark, and one where they are being paid £5 per day to produce clothes for Monsoon. Last pair of DH's work trousers bought in M&S were made in Vietnam. These are not just trousers, they are exploitive M&S trousers.

Used to shop in charity shops as poor student - certain towns around used to have fantastic clothes at very reasonable prices - Jaeger / LAura Ashley etc (and before anyone laughs, this was nearly 30 years ago and these were the labels to be seen in ). Would shop in charity shops now, and still do in certain independent ones, but object to high prices/poor service in certain well known 'chains' (yes you, Cancer Research, Help the Aged).

"But the point being that Primark's target audience is not generally very poor people, it's people with some money but not necessarily inteliigent, who will spend £200 on tat that is in fashion and then throw it away rather than a few quality items. You can try and educate them but good bloody luck."
Well, I?m a professionally qualified graduate and I shop at Primark (and so do a lot of my friends, and my mother) it makes me very cross indeed when people make assumptions about a target market like this. It is a lie that Primark stuff doesn't last and is only fit for the bin after a season, I?ll be wearing my Primark T shirts for a third season, and as I've posited before have numerous nice things from Primark that have lasted for ages. It is the up market shops that want to fleece us that support this philosophy that "nice tasteful people" spend a lot of money on their clothes in exclusive shops and if we don't then we are the underclass. The truth of the matter is that we are not paying for better wages for the people who make them but for marketing, surroundings, and profit. I would expect anyone who wants to "try to educate" to at least be abl;e to spell "Intelligent"!

But if you leave aside the whole quality issue, when there are reports that tell you that Primark and other shops are known to use factories that exploit their workers then how can you feel good about wearing clothes from those places?

I have to admit I've bought a few things in Primark and Peacocks before and I've felt really guilty about it afterwards . I strongly believe there should be more ethics in fashion and we should try to encourage retailers who make efforts to use ethical labour.

I think that Gap have really cleaned up their act since they were associated with really unethical labour practices. I believe M&S and John Lewis are relatively ethical. There are lots of nice ethical brands these days like the stuff on Adili and People tree but they do cost more. Even Topshop has started doing the odd Fairtrade t-shirt etc. Wasn't there something on the front page of the Observer yesterday about some new scandal at Primark?

On page 8 of today's Daily Mail, there's an article about one of Primark's supplier's 'TNS Knitwear', who ran a sweatshop in Manchester, where illegal immigrants work 12 hour days for £3 an hour.
Apparently, Primark have now been ordered to remove all references to membership of the 'Ethical Trading Initiative' from its stores.

Higgle, typo's aren't unacceptable, if you're a graduate and yet you still support Primark and their practices - what's your excuse ?

My excuse? I don't need to have one or justify to anyone why I shop where I do to anyone, last I checked.

I like Primark. I like the price, too, as I am poor and in a rural area and don't have a lot of choice when it comes to places to shop.

Does it make any difference to supporters of Primark when their abuse of workers' rights is happening in our own country?

here

I'm not trying to start an argument; am genuinely interested.

Sorry girls, it's not just overseas...

uk sweatshops

Oooh, sorry, have just realised that I had been reading this page backwards and that someone had already picked up on today's new story about the Manchester factory.

What would be useful is a comprehensive list of manufacturers and what is produced at various factories.

I doubt that Primark/Gap/Top Shop factories are exclusive.

Um, no. Makes no difference to me at all.

Why Expat?

Because I like the clothes in there and it's what we can afford. I'm not in a position to buy expensive stuff and it's the closest place to buy any clothes at all now Woolie's has shut. It's either that or Tesco, and I can't imagine their being any more ethical.

I've got a nearly £500 gas bill to pay off. Am on LPG so no switching suppliers and we don't own this house so can't do anything to it (landlord doesn't want us to) and it's old and stone so no cavity wall or any of that.

The more and more people start losing their jobs and struggle to pay their bills the more a place like Primark is giong to be what they can afford.

Fair enough.

Off to bed now but am very interested in anybody else's views on this.

Totally see Expat's view on this, though do also feel very concerned about children sweatshops and expolitation of asylum seekers. One of the things that I think has changed beyond recognition from when I was a child is that you can no longer identify poverty by people's clothes alone at a single glance. Certain children at my school in the late 80s/early 90s stuck out as being from families who were desperately struggling financially purely by virtue of their dowdy, super cheap different looking clothes. Nowadays they would be dressed in lovely fashionable Primark clothes just like many of their better off peers. I think that change is squarely down to Primark and other cheapo shops and it is a wonderful thing. Lobbying to ensure that it's not at the expense of exploiting children and asylum seekers is the way forward I reckon, not boycotting Primark and especially not expecting the poor to boycott it.

My excuse? I don't need one either. I pay taxes for the government to see that regulations are complied with and buy my clothes as I see fit. Today I bought a blouse for £80 because I liked it, last week I spent £6 on a jumper in Primark for the same reason. I am not so naive that I suppose it is any more likely that the blouse was ethically manufactured than the jumper. What really annoys me is the marketing ploy that says anything cheap is rubbish - I will be pleasantly surprised if the buttons stay stitched to the blouse any longer than the jumper.

I've never been to Primark. Am I missing out?

Depends what you like Mrs S.