The Next Fast Fashion Giant, Primark, Opens Its First U.S. Location This Thursday

None

1.

You know H&M. You know Zara. You know Forever 21, Uniqlo and all the other cheap, easily accessibly fashion chains out there. But prepare to welcome a new competitor into the ring that you may not have heard of yet, Primark. The Irish company's first American location opens in Boston this Thursday, September 10th, with seven more Northeast locations to come shortly after. To prepare us for the fast fashion apocalypse, The Economist looks at just what the store is stepping into.

If you don't know Primark, think of it as a trendier, less industrial Costco, with better clothes (not sold in bulk, thought often bought that way) and even lower prices. Like a Walmart without some of the connotations. The average price of women's clothes at Primark: $5.88. Its apparent American product line: 22% cheaper than Forever 21, which is already the bottom of the barrel. Primark operates on extremely thin margins, with little advertising and a mentality of getting people to buy in bulk, wear the clothes, throw them out and return to buy again soon after, like many other fast fashion spots you're familiar with. Will Primark succeed? We'll have to wait and see. It's not always easy to simply port over a brand to another country as Target has found out in Canada and J.Crew has found out in England.

One major differentiator: Primark doesn't sell online because the shipping would eat into profits. That one sentence tells you a lot about just how inexpensive the merchandise is. We, the U.S. or the rest of the world to be honest, don't need another bottom barrel fast fashion spot. But we're getting one. So prepare yourself for more of these until the end of days and clothes just come packed in layers that you peel off yourself to reveal a new outfit each day.