Not so jolly: Why Prague’s flagship Primark won’t open in time for the holidays

People who were planning to do some holiday shopping at Primark on Prague’s Wenceslas Square will be disappointed. The opening of the Central European flagship location of the Irish discount fashion chain has been pushed back to the start of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

As a result, Primark will lose out on on the strong holiday shopping season, when retailers of clothing, household goods, toys and electronics have the highest turnover of any time in the year.

The store had been set to open in the second half of 2020, but was prevented from doing so due to the first wave of pandemic restrictions imposed by the government.

Primark will occupy three floors in the recently completed multifunctional Flow Building on Wenceslas Square, built by developer Flow East. The building was originally called the Flower Building (Květinový dům). Construction on the building at Václavské náměstí 47 was finished in July.

The fashion retailer will occupy all of the building’s retail space, and have a sales area of 4,700 square meters and a total area of 6,000 sqm. The rest of the space is for offices and parking. The building design comes from British architectural firm Chapman Taylor, with inspiration from the lines of St. Vitus’ Cathedral and images of burning candles and flowering plants.

Many Czechs have long been a fan of the Primark brand, and have taken buses across the border to shop. Those customers are expected to shift to the new Prague location once it opens.

Primark also plans to open a branch in Brno at the Olympia shopping center in 2022.

The retailer has more than 300 locations across Europe and North America. Most of them are in the UK, Spain and Ireland. It opened its first store in the CEE region on June 13, 2019, in Ljubljana, Slovenia. The company also announced the planned opening of stores in Poland and Slovakia.