How Primark Grows Its Own Leaders: 5 Practical Takeaways for HR
How does Primark develop frontline leaders and help colleagues build careers within the business?
John D. Hadeed, Senior Vice President, People & Culture, US at Primark, joins Chris Rainey to share the career conversations, training and leadership habits behind its approach.
At the time of recording, John says more than 60% of Primark’s US store leaders had grown within its US business, with an ambition to reach 80%.
We explore 5 practical takeaways for HR, from preparing people for their next role to equipping managers to support colleagues when HR isn’t there.
5 TAKEAWAYS FROM THIS EPISODE
→ Turn career ambitions into a plan
How conversations about potential, goals and mobility inform succession planning.
→ Make teaching part of the leadership job
What John learnt during 18 months alongside his predecessor.
→ Protect the time to learn
How Primark approaches onboarding, peer training and development away from the shop floor.
→ Explain what your values actually look like
Why “dynamic” needed a shared meaning across different cultures and languages.
→ Equip managers to support people when HR isn’t there
Why being people-first depends on how leaders show up every day.
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WEBVTT
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We need, in the first instance, leaders who are capable and equipped to be able to
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support their colleagues. That leads to stronger colleague engagement because
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they're feeling supported and connected to their line managers.
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We talk a lot about being a people-first business.
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That's not about being a people and culture function.
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That's at the leadership connection and how our leaders are showing up.
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John, welcome to the show, my friend. How are you doing?
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Thank you, doing well. Excited to be here.
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Listen, ever since we last spoke, my wife and daughter have just been going on and
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on and on about, "Hey, when you say Primark, when are we getting a sponsorship?"
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Listen, we're always happy to have
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Primark fans-
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Yeah
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... near and far. And we've certainly got some great new things in store, so I
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hope-
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Yeah
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... they've come in to check out what we've got.
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It's really cool that it's a brand that I've grown up with, my daughter's grown up
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with. When we walk past, even when she was really, really young to now when she's
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eight, she always wants to run in. We go past, she always wants to run in to see
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what's in the kids' section and see what-
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Yeah
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... brand collabs that you've done recently, and that must be really cool.
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I know I'm just jumping straight to fan right now.
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But that's so cool, the fact you have that level of you've got multiple
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generations-
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... that are connecting with the brand.
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Yeah. I would say one of the things we take most seriously is being a part of the
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communities where we-
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... trade. When we think about opening a store, for us, it's about being a part of
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a community for the long term. And so, we think about the generations of folks that
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will walk through our doors. And most of our business, especially in the first 20
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to 30 years, was built on the high street in Ireland and in the UK, and in those
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towns, being a destination for affordable fashion-
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Yes
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... for the entire family. That's really what we stand for.
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We want people to be able to look good and feel good every day for
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the most affordable price that we can do.
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We believe really strongly that great style, quality style, sustainable style
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doesn't have to be-
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Yeah
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... for the few, it can be for the many, and for their kids and their kids over
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time. So it's really what we're all about.
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Yeah. And it was, as I said before we hit record, my mom was raising four kids.
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In East London where I grew up, it was pretty tough.
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There was low income families, social housing, and-
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... the fact we had something like Primark, we had it in Woolwich, is where you
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have a store. That was where you went.
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Yeah.
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And the fact you could go in and buy the entire family koving and not feel
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that stress overwhelmed with the price as well.
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Yeah.
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And we loved it obviously as kids. So yeah, it's incredible.
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I feel like you're one of the first companies that ever did that, the affordable
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fashion.
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I remember at the time I was like, "Wow, this is crazy. This is amazing.
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How do they do this?"
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Yeah. And we still have, as we're building the business here in the US, Chris, we
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have that reaction every day when customers come in the store for the first time.
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They're like-
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Yeah
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... "When does the price go back to normal?" And we're like, "No, this is the
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price." We're about great-
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Yeah
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... price every single day because we want that affordability for people.
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Value is what we do. We want to bring great value to as many people as
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possible and to make fashion and styles accessible to as many people as possible.
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Our concept of iconic value and being famous for that is at the heart of
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who we are and who we've been for over 55 years.
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Yeah. One of the things that really shocked me when we last spoke is that
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even after all these years, and with online,
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you still have quadrupled stores-
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Yeah
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... over the last couple of years.
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Yeah. In the US especially.
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Yeah, in the US.
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We've really been focused on our retail expansion here in the US.
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We're first and foremost a bricks-and-mortar retailer, which is, as you said,
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pretty unique in-
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Yeah
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... today's world of e-commerce and apps and all of this.
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But our business model is about creating those connections with our product, and
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we really believe that happens best within the four walls of one of our stores.
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Our business model, including our focus on bricks-and-mortar retail, is about what
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makes us affordable. We get to that great price by having a holistic view of the
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business and about doing it from a retail perspective.
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So yeah, we've been on a rapid growth trajectory in the US for the last four years,
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taking the business from about 12 stores to coming up on 50 stores.
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And really that's about meeting new people-
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... in new communities, and we're just getting started here in the US.
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Yeah. And those communities need you as well, right? So it's great.
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There's opportunities for jobs there.
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Obviously, you just serve the community that needs it.
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And for people listening, you didn't plan this career, right?
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No, I definitely- ... I definitely didn't plan this career in two regards.
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I didn't plan a career in retail generally, and I didn't plan a
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career in HR specifically.
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But I really fell into retail myself and found something that I loved and found
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very motivational. I think
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the reference you just made there, Chris, we're about a place that provides great
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fashion for the family. We're also a place where people can build their careers.
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Mm-hmm.
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And I believe really strongly that retail careers are lasting,
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impactful, rewarding jobs that people can build over time.
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And I think we see that across our business.
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Over 60% of our leaders of our stores in the US right now grew up within our US
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business.
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Wow.
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And we have an ambition over time to get that to 80%.
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And you're running a retail store, you might have a team of 150 folks reporting to
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you and running a substantial business from a sales perspective.
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So it's a big job to work in retail. And I think it's one of the best
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opportunities.
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Yeah. You've said before that you're the least HR person.
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Yes. I am.
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What do you mean by that?
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Because my background is a stores background. So I come from the shop floor.
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I started on the shop floor. I don't come into the world of HR from an
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academic background. I don't have a master's in HR management.
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And
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actually, that's, I think, a very cool way to approach things.
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I think education is incredibly important.
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It's just not the way that I entered into HR.
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I came into it through an operational lens.
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Mm-hmm.
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And so I tend to approach things through how are we looking to solve a business
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problem? How are we looking to best leverage and support and enable our people to
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accomplish our business outcomes?
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And then what do we need from a people and culture or an HR perspective to service
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that? Versus what's the latest HR framework or what's the latest people and culture
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concept and how do we want to bring that into Primark?
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That might not be right for Primark.
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Yeah.
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We got to start with what's the business challenge, what's the need that we have?
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And so I think that's how I approach the work that I do from a P&C perspective is
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that kind of business first lens.
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Yeah, that makes sense. We spoke a little bit about the careers right from the shop
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floor to the senior leadership. Could you walk our audience through practically
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what does that look like? How have you systematized that to make sure that-
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Yeah
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... you can do that consistently, you can measure it-
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Yeah
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... and grow?
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Yeah. Growing careers is one of the most important things for us to do, and it's
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also really a hallmark of our culture and our business.
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If you look at our organization, we've got retail colleagues in the UK who have
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celebrated 50 years-
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50
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... in Ireland, 50 years of working for us.
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We've only been around for 55 years, so-
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That's what I was about to say.
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... think about what that looks like.
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And you meet people who have been here for
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40, 30, 20 years.
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My colleague who runs the US business has been here over 25 years, started as a
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weekend sales associate in his local shop in the north of England, and now runs the
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US market. So how do we do that? That's about really intentional talent management.
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It's about identifying great talent.
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It's about having a consistent process around saying who are high performers, who
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are high potential, and then how do we support their development to get them ready
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for what the next role is. It's a little bit about pushing people and encouraging
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them to push themselves. We make sure that folks have really good
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talent conversations, sitting down one-to-one and saying, "What is your career
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ambition? Where do you want to grow?
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Where are you open from a mobility perspective?" Especially as part of our
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expansion in the US, we wanted people to move around, and we've needed people to
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move around. So having those really intentional conversations to identify people's
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ambitions, passions, what they want to do, where they want to go, then feeds into
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our ability to succession plan and to think ahead around how are we going to move
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folks throughout the organization.
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And then all of that's further supported by a learning agenda and a leadership
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development agenda that says, "Let's get you ready for the next role then."
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So that's a bit about how we look at it.
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So I'm assuming then that
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in order to do this and be effective, then you're really leaning on your store
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managers, right? Because
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they're not in an office. They're in a store.
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No.
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So for you to remain connected and truly have a pulse of-
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Yeah
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... I'm sure there's a lot of investment then in those store managers to ensure
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that they can identify that top talent, have those conversations, et cetera.
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Absolutely. Yeah. Our store managers are the heart of our business, ultimately.
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As we said earlier, we run a retail bricks-and-mortar business.
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We have over 500 shops globally, coming up on 50 in the US, and that's been our
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business for 55 years. So investing in the capabilities of our store
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managers is the most important thing that we do.
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Having them able to identify talent on the floor, have those conversations,
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encourage and push the development of their people, is the only way that we make
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this happen-
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Yeah
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... at scale.
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And I'm sure it's interesting because they've gone through the same process.
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Yes.
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Right? Like you said, like you did, you've gone from the shop floor.
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So they've experienced it, right?
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Because then
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it becomes more of the culture of how you do things at Primark.
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Completely. I think for us, Chris, one of the things that's a hallmark of our
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culture is this idea of teaching and building the next generation of talent.
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Mm.
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So if we look back over time, our first CEO,
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Mr. Arthur Ryan, who founded the business and ran it for most of its history,
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taught the next generation of leaders, and you meet those folks that he developed
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who talk about the things that Mr. Ryan taught them and
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the way that he built this business over time.
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And that trickles all the way through the organization.
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So, I joined this business five years ago, and I had the opportunity
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for 18 months to spend time with my predecessor learning how did she set up the US
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business, what was in her mind, what were the things that were keeping her up at
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night, what were the things that were focuses for her.
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So this kind of handoff from generation to generation, if you will, in the business
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is incredibly important and something that we take really seriously, and it happens
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every day. It's not about a formal leadership course all of the time or a very
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structured training. It's an obligation that as leaders we have every day to teach
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and empower the next generation of leaders and bring them along on their own career
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journey.
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Yeah. One of the challenges I always see with frontline is from a learning and
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development point of view is how do you make time for this for people working in
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stores and for those that are not always digitally connected, right?
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Yeah.
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So what does that look like, and maybe how are you thinking about that as things
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like AI come along and-
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Yeah
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... it's transforming so fast, how do you remain connected and give people the
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opportunity to upskill, reskill, but make space for it?
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Yeah. It's making time for
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frontline colleagues, shop floor colleagues-
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... in our case, who are not sitting at a computer, not digitally connected all of
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the time. How we communicate with them, how we support them from a learning
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perspective, it is a unique challenge. We're certainly not alone in how we face it.
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What I would say is there are two things that we have really prioritized in
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this regard, and one of them is actually an investment in in-person training and
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support. So we have really made a commitment around setting folks up for success
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when they join the business. So everyone who joins us goes through an induction
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program and a new hire onboarding program, if you will.
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And that could range from a couple of days worth of content for our sales
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associates on the shop floor, up through over 12 weeks of time for a store
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manager. And that's really protected time with peer trainers to learn the
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business. So we believe very strongly in that investment and in setting
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people up for success. And then from an ongoing perspective, we've explored and are
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continuing our exploration, I would say, on how we best support from a tooling
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perspective. We've got Zing, which is our communications channel, which we've
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opened up to every colleague in the business.
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They can access it through their personal device or one of the devices in store.
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We've got over 90% of our US colleagues registered on Zing.
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It's not mandatory, but
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they really like to take advantage of it and stay connected to who we are and how
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we operate as a business. It's a great channel for celebrating successes, sharing
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news, sharing information, and sharing some more of those short-form content
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pieces. And then from a more structured learning perspective, we're on that journey
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to have a learning technology powered by AI that we connect with
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every sales associate. I'd be honest and say we're not there yet.
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Sure.
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That's something we're working on within the next year-
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Yeah
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... from that point of view.
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So that training you mentioned, is that something happening locally in those areas
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offsite, or you do it in store? Like when you mentioned the in-person training you
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mentioned.
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Yeah. Our in-person training happens through a combination of in store and offsite.
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Okay.
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So the day-to-day operational training is very much embedded within the routines of
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the store. So a colleague will get paired up with someone doing the job to show
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them how it gets done. We have regular checkpoints and measurement
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to make sure that that learning is being adopted and embedded by the new starter.
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Mm-hmm.
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And then we take them out of the store for certain pieces of content, especially
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when it comes to things like leadership.
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... development, we bring them out of the store.
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And that might be out of the store for half a day.
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It might be out of the store, in the case of our store managers, for a week to go
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through a leadership program that's focused on building their capability and
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getting them out of that day-to-day context
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to really help put them in a place where they can spend some time on their own
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development. So-
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Yeah
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... it's a combination, Chris, I would say of in-store and out of store depending
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on the content.
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Is it tough to scale that?
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Because that's one of the challenges, right?
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I know it's never easy regardless, but in order to scale that consistently across
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globally.
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Yeah. I would say scaling the in-person
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training definitely brings challenges.
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For us in the US part of that, to be honest, is a geographic challenge.
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Yeah.
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How do we pull together people from 50 locations, from El Paso, Texas to
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Minneapolis to Miami? How do we do that in the most effective way?
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So we tend to do a lot of it regionally.
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Regionally, okay.
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So our team will go out, we'll host trainings across the different cities where
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we trade. For our more senior programs, and as the population gets smaller, we feel
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really strongly about bringing them to Boston, which is where our US headquarters
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is, to really immerse them within the brand even more.
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And it takes planning and organization to be completely honest.
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Yeah.
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And a commitment around investing in it.
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Because it's
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not the cheapest way to do training, but we do believe it's an impactful way to do
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training. And so, I would say it's one of the things when we look
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at our budgets and we say, "All right.
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Where are we going to invest this year?" It's one of the things that we
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consistently try to protect as much as possible.
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I can imagine. And the value of Zing. Is it Zing? Did you say Zing was Zing?
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Zing is our communications app. Yeah.
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So the value of that is that anyone can use it on their own device.
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Mm-hmm.
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Right? Is that correct? And then you have, I
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don't know, maybe a tablet or computer in store that they can also access that.
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Yep.
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Is that correct?
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Yeah. So Zing, which is our colleague communications app, can be accessed through
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any device. So they can access it through their personal device.
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And we've really tried from a colleague perspective to make everything that we do
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accessible from a personal device.
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So whether that's their-
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Sure
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... scheduling, whether that's their payroll management, or whether that's how we
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communicate with them through Zing, accessible on their personal device.
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And then within the store, we've got tablets as the primary access point for
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colleagues to be able to both do their work and then connect in through a
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communications perspective.
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Yeah. One other thing about earlier in the conversation is how does
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the culture differ between the US and Europe?
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And how do you create
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some consistency as you grow?
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Yeah.
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As you're bringing new people in the organization.
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I think how we build culture sustainably across-
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Yeah
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... countries-
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Mm-hmm
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... and even regions of countries that are very different-
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Yeah
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... has been a key focus for us as we've scaled the business.
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Because we want to be Primark everywhere that we trade.
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We could very easily become a business, well, that's the American version of
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Primark, or that's the-
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Yeah
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... French version of-
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Yeah
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... Primark. But actually what we want is for our colleagues to feel that
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they work for Primark. And so for us, it's been about defining what do we
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stand for, what are our values as an organization, making it as simple as possible.
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So we have three values, care, and dynamic, and together.
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And we embed those across everything we do from a performance and goal-setting
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perspective, right the way through all of our development programs, how we think
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about and manage people's performance.
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We talk about how they show up in the work, and we do that globally.
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And we actually spent quite a bit of time making sure that the values and the
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language that we use to describe them actually translated across the different
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languages where we trade, the different cultures that we trade in.
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The word dynamic, for example, people could interpret that in their own way.
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Does that mean you're the loudest, most animated, energetic, dynamic person in the
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room? Or does it mean that you are creative in what you do, and you're open to new
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ideas, and you're thinking forward?
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We had to get into make sure that people understood what we really meant there.
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Because it isn't about building a business of extroverts, although extroverts are
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welcome. It's actually business.
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It's building a business where we're thinking dynamically about the future.
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Yeah.
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So for us, creating that consistent Primark experience started with and continues
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with how do we define actually what we mean by Primark.
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And then where do we need to tailor things from a cultural perspective?
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Where are things we need to dial up and dial down?
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But it's been really important that we create a level of consistency around who we
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are as we've grown. And so that's one of the core ways that we've done it.
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Love that. When you think about
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frontline HR, I feel like it's such a unique challenge.
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Over the years of 2,000 interviews with CHROs, whenever I speak to leaders like
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yourself who are large frontline populations, it's such a unique set of challenges.
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It's very different, and I realize that over the years doing these conversations.
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But as you look ahead, what do you think is going to be the biggest challenge for
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frontline HR in the next couple of years?
376
00:21:36.318 --> 00:21:38.268
Let's say both challenge but also opportunity then.
377
00:21:38.688 --> 00:21:43.818
Yeah. I think you're right. The dynamic between managing a frontline workforce from
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a people and culture perspective versus a desk-bound workforce-
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00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:51.168
... very different. I was having a conversation with someone the other day who was
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trying to apply a lesson from professional services into a retail environment, and
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I said, "Well, it's not exactly the same thing when you're talking about
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00:22:00.798 --> 00:22:06.438
advanced degree, white collar professionals, and 17-year-old sales associates
383
00:22:06.528 --> 00:22:11.028
working on the shop floor." Those dynamics are very different.
384
00:22:11.149 --> 00:22:16.637
So I think for us, actually what it starts with is having the right leaders in
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place and having leaders equipped to deal with what happens within the four walls
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of a store from a people perspective.
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Because what we can't rely on is a P&C person to always be there to manage a
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situation. We trade across too many locations, and we trade across 70
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plus hours of the week. So we need, in the first instance, leaders who are capable
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and equipped to be able to support their colleagues.
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And actually what we find more than anything, Chris, is that leads to stronger
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colleague engagement because they're feeling supported and connected to their line
393
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managers. We talk a lot about being a people first business.
394
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That's not about being a people and culture function first.
395
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No, it's the... Yeah.
396
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That's about the leadership connection and how our leaders are showing up.
397
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When I think about
398
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some of the challenges we face, we have so many generations in the workplace right
399
00:23:14.808 --> 00:23:20.508
now on the shop floor of one of our stores, from 16 years old to 86 years old.
400
00:23:21.048 --> 00:23:25.488
How we connect with and support all of those different generations, who in some
401
00:23:25.548 --> 00:23:29.118
cases might be doing the same job, but approaching it in very different ways
402
00:23:29.149 --> 00:23:33.858
because of where they're at in their life, in their own journey.
403
00:23:34.368 --> 00:23:37.788
That puts pressure on us, for sure.
404
00:23:37.938 --> 00:23:42.978
I think that it's been interesting for us to see the level of desire for
405
00:23:43.068 --> 00:23:48.018
interpersonal interaction, especially among newer generations entering the
406
00:23:48.048 --> 00:23:52.068
workforce who are much more digitally enabled and digitally savvy, and maybe
407
00:23:52.159 --> 00:23:56.688
slightly less comfortable with some in-person dialogue.
408
00:23:56.718 --> 00:23:58.909
And actually, that's what we need from them on the shop floor.
409
00:23:59.028 --> 00:24:04.878
So definitely some different challenges we face in that perspective than we would
410
00:24:04.909 --> 00:24:06.108
dealing with some-
411
00:24:06.678 --> 00:24:06.768
Yeah
412
00:24:06.768 --> 00:24:08.688
... desk-bound associates in an office.
413
00:24:09.468 --> 00:24:14.418
I think one of the unique opportunities on the other side of that is that we've
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00:24:14.448 --> 00:24:18.618
first started becoming a little bit full circle from e-commerce to now people
415
00:24:18.649 --> 00:24:21.168
wanting to go into a store and have an experience.
416
00:24:22.488 --> 00:24:23.058
Absolutely.
417
00:24:23.118 --> 00:24:26.628
And human interactions. I haven't been shopping in a long time, but I went shopping
418
00:24:26.659 --> 00:24:29.808
recently, my wife and daughter, and I went in some stores, and I was like, "Oh,
419
00:24:29.899 --> 00:24:32.508
this is what this feels like." And in a great way.
420
00:24:32.538 --> 00:24:34.758
And I was like, "Oh, because I've been buying online, I've been traveling, I've
421
00:24:34.758 --> 00:24:40.308
been busy," and I forgot when I walked into the store, I was greeted, and someone
422
00:24:40.368 --> 00:24:44.298
was helping me out, and I was like, there's some music, and there's environment.
423
00:24:44.358 --> 00:24:46.339
And I was like, "Oh, this is actually a really
424
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enjoyable experience." And I feel like people want more of that now.
425
00:24:50.899 --> 00:24:56.508
And I've seen, despite what I would've thought, that a lot of those large shopping
426
00:24:56.568 --> 00:24:58.728
malls and stores, they're growing.
427
00:24:59.574 --> 00:25:02.094
I would never have, if you would've told me that a few years ago, I'd have been
428
00:25:02.124 --> 00:25:05.844
like, "Nope. It's the end of-- Everyone's going online.
429
00:25:05.904 --> 00:25:09.924
No one's ever going to stores again." And then I see some of the data out there
430
00:25:09.984 --> 00:25:12.354
that Westfield, which is big shopping centers, right?-
431
00:25:12.414 --> 00:25:13.314
Oof
432
00:25:13.314 --> 00:25:15.054
... in the UK, they're growing.
433
00:25:15.804 --> 00:25:16.074
Yeah.
434
00:25:16.674 --> 00:25:18.114
I'm like, "What?"
435
00:25:18.204 --> 00:25:21.475
Yeah. I think, Chris, you're spot on.
436
00:25:21.504 --> 00:25:22.524
There was definitely, I think, also
437
00:25:24.084 --> 00:25:26.814
a narrative around the decline of shopping malls-
438
00:25:26.904 --> 00:25:27.024
Yeah
439
00:25:27.024 --> 00:25:32.424
... the end of the mall. I think what we find very much is people
440
00:25:32.544 --> 00:25:36.504
are hungry for experiences, and that might be a bit of shopping, that might be a
441
00:25:36.534 --> 00:25:41.094
great meal out, that might be a movie, and so they're coming into these shopping
442
00:25:41.124 --> 00:25:43.764
destinations. And the good ones are only getting better.
443
00:25:44.034 --> 00:25:47.004
You go to some of the best malls in America, and they've only gotten better over
444
00:25:47.034 --> 00:25:51.745
the last number of years. Because people are hungry for that experiential
445
00:25:51.804 --> 00:25:57.415
opportunity. And I think more than ever, what we're seeing is actually there is a
446
00:25:57.504 --> 00:26:02.154
time and a place for let me go online and order that thing, that is
447
00:26:03.415 --> 00:26:08.394
I've got a very specific item in mind, and I need it quickly, and I, in some cases,
448
00:26:08.514 --> 00:26:12.774
either want a very specific brand or actually don't care what the brand is, and I
449
00:26:12.864 --> 00:26:16.975
just need to transact on it. Versus, I'm on a mission of discovery.
450
00:26:17.245 --> 00:26:23.004
I want to update my wardrobe. I want to find a great new outfit for an
451
00:26:23.064 --> 00:26:27.355
interview that I have next week. And that is much easier to
452
00:26:28.495 --> 00:26:32.725
discover when you're surrounded by product and a great experience with someone
453
00:26:32.784 --> 00:26:33.624
who's ready to-
454
00:26:33.894 --> 00:26:34.014
Yeah
455
00:26:34.014 --> 00:26:35.514
... someone who's ready to help you.
456
00:26:35.544 --> 00:26:41.514
And so, I think we see continued opportunity in bricks
457
00:26:41.544 --> 00:26:46.314
and mortar retail, and I think, as I said, good malls going from strength to
458
00:26:46.374 --> 00:26:50.754
strength and really continuing to become destinations for people.
459
00:26:50.784 --> 00:26:56.154
And we're really proud and happy to be part of that narrative as a retailer.
460
00:26:56.394 --> 00:26:59.544
It's really exciting, man. And I know you said at the beginning of the call
461
00:27:00.745 --> 00:27:06.475
about how you support your community, and I told you that one of my friends and his
462
00:27:06.534 --> 00:27:11.215
family were like, one of your colleagues brought into one side, and they end up
463
00:27:11.245 --> 00:27:13.584
becoming the face of one of your Christmas campaigns.
464
00:27:13.915 --> 00:27:14.364
Yes.
465
00:27:14.574 --> 00:27:18.204
And you can't make that up. And my friend messaged me, Claude, and he was like,
466
00:27:18.234 --> 00:27:22.344
"Look at this," and it's him and his family, and he was like, "I couldn't mention
467
00:27:22.404 --> 00:27:24.624
it, but we're now going to be the face of Primark."
468
00:27:25.105 --> 00:27:26.814
And they were just literally just shopping in the store.
469
00:27:27.504 --> 00:27:31.254
And so I don't know how it happened or how you guys do stuff like that, but then
470
00:27:31.284 --> 00:27:34.524
all of a sudden, I'm literally looking on billboards around London, and it's him
471
00:27:34.524 --> 00:27:38.215
and his family. And they literally are people that shop at that store.
472
00:27:38.245 --> 00:27:44.184
They weren't casted at an agency. It wasn't something-- I don't know if
473
00:27:44.245 --> 00:27:47.184
that's something you guys do and you're intentional about, but that kind of took me
474
00:27:47.245 --> 00:27:50.364
back. I was like, wow, they didn't all go to auditions.
475
00:27:50.784 --> 00:27:56.274
It was a true authentic family shopping at Primark, who you guys end up doing a
476
00:27:56.334 --> 00:27:58.554
campaign with for the Christmas drop.
477
00:27:58.584 --> 00:27:58.734
Yeah.
478
00:27:58.824 --> 00:28:00.415
I was like, wow, how cool is that?
479
00:28:01.344 --> 00:28:07.074
I think we try at Primark from a marketing perspective, from a consumer
480
00:28:07.134 --> 00:28:11.245
perspective, to stay very connected to who our actual customer is.
481
00:28:11.603 --> 00:28:11.933
Yeah.
482
00:28:12.054 --> 00:28:18.024
And to stay true to our belief that fashion is for everyone and that style
483
00:28:18.084 --> 00:28:23.004
is for everyone, and that that doesn't have to be expensive and exclusive, but it
484
00:28:23.034 --> 00:28:27.745
can be democratic. And so, like your friend who showed up in one of our campaigns,
485
00:28:28.225 --> 00:28:31.225
we look at how we do that in a variety of different ways.
486
00:28:31.584 --> 00:28:36.415
We've had, here in New York, Fashion Week happens twice a year.
487
00:28:36.804 --> 00:28:39.355
We're not about the exclusivity of the front row.
488
00:28:39.534 --> 00:28:45.174
We've hosted fashion shows open to everyone, where we've brought in
489
00:28:45.264 --> 00:28:48.355
models. Models, I use the term loosely because some of them are-
490
00:28:48.415 --> 00:28:48.564
Sure
491
00:28:48.564 --> 00:28:49.704
... colleagues from our shop floor-
492
00:28:49.824 --> 00:28:49.975
Yeah
493
00:28:50.004 --> 00:28:51.384
... the customers who shop with us.
494
00:28:51.444 --> 00:28:51.684
Love that.
495
00:28:52.134 --> 00:28:54.684
About creating that democratic view of fashion.
496
00:28:54.774 --> 00:29:00.654
Even when we think about, we opened our flagship store in Herald Square in the
497
00:29:00.745 --> 00:29:02.995
spring, ended up being the same week as
498
00:29:04.764 --> 00:29:07.734
the Met Gala, which is a very kind of exclusive-
499
00:29:07.824 --> 00:29:07.855
Yep
500
00:29:07.855 --> 00:29:11.965
... fashion moment, right? For us, actually, the big moment was May 8th was the day
501
00:29:11.995 --> 00:29:15.204
that we opened because that was about creating fashion for everyone.
502
00:29:15.264 --> 00:29:17.154
It wasn't about fashion for the few.
503
00:29:17.215 --> 00:29:17.424
So-
504
00:29:17.814 --> 00:29:17.874
Mm
505
00:29:17.874 --> 00:29:22.134
... we take that commitment very seriously, and I think what you saw and what your
506
00:29:22.165 --> 00:29:25.495
friend, Claude, experienced is very authentic to who we are.
507
00:29:25.554 --> 00:29:30.684
About real people, real families, looking good and feeling good for prices as
508
00:29:31.194 --> 00:29:32.694
affordable to as many as possible.
509
00:29:33.294 --> 00:29:37.194
I know it's silly, but I remember that year that everyone went out and bought those
510
00:29:37.284 --> 00:29:38.274
Grinch pyjamas.
511
00:29:40.134 --> 00:29:42.264
Well, Chris, the Grinch is back again this year.
512
00:29:42.355 --> 00:29:43.614
Is he back again this year? He's back?
513
00:29:43.644 --> 00:29:47.094
I was in the store yesterday, and we've got Grinch for the whole family.
514
00:29:47.124 --> 00:29:50.965
Yeah, that's what I mean, yeah. Because me and my wife can have it, my daughter can
515
00:29:50.995 --> 00:29:56.004
have the same ones. And yeah, I remember them flying off the shelf in there.
516
00:29:56.094 --> 00:30:00.264
I think when we went in, actually, they had sold out to even get them because
517
00:30:00.324 --> 00:30:03.534
people were like, families were like, "Oh, this is something fun that we can all do
518
00:30:03.624 --> 00:30:04.495
together," right?
519
00:30:04.554 --> 00:30:05.394
Yeah.
520
00:30:05.454 --> 00:30:06.624
As well, and that's what it's all about.
521
00:30:07.225 --> 00:30:07.344
Yeah.
522
00:30:07.704 --> 00:30:12.174
And listen, man, I'm really happy to have you on the show, and yeah, it's always
523
00:30:12.204 --> 00:30:15.024
cool when I can chat to brands that I've grown up with-
524
00:30:15.654 --> 00:30:16.915
... that's had a personal
525
00:30:18.324 --> 00:30:20.965
connection to me. You don't even realize it, really.
526
00:30:21.294 --> 00:30:25.374
It was only when we first spoke that I reflected that, wow, multiple generations,
527
00:30:25.434 --> 00:30:29.215
my mom's generation, my generation, and now my daughter-
528
00:30:30.054 --> 00:30:30.204
Yeah
529
00:30:30.204 --> 00:30:33.654
... is growing up shopping in the store, and always wants to pop in whenever we
530
00:30:33.684 --> 00:30:38.454
walk. Whenever we walk past, "Daddy, can we just pop in?" "See what they got in
531
00:30:38.514 --> 00:30:38.814
there."
532
00:30:38.844 --> 00:30:41.934
And that's just really nice to think about that.
533
00:30:41.965 --> 00:30:46.254
And you've clearly created that consistency that, because not many brands can hold
534
00:30:46.314 --> 00:30:47.934
onto multiple generations-
535
00:30:48.415 --> 00:30:52.194
... and have that connectedness along the way and that experience.
536
00:30:52.284 --> 00:30:56.215
So congrats to you and the team, and I appreciate you taking time out to share.
537
00:30:56.274 --> 00:30:59.094
Yeah. It was great to be able to talk a little bit about what we're doing at
538
00:30:59.124 --> 00:31:03.054
Primark with you as well, and always happy to chat with someone who's got that
539
00:31:03.564 --> 00:31:06.114
Primark experience themselves.
540
00:31:06.384 --> 00:31:09.054
Love it, man. Well, look, keep up the great work and I'll chat to you soon, all
541
00:31:09.084 --> 00:31:09.234
right?
542
00:31:09.804 --> 00:31:10.855
Thanks so much. Appreciate it.
John D. Hadeed, Senior Vice President, People & Culture, US at Primark