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tisdag 15 december 2015

Can Cool Clothes Get Any Cheaper Than This?

Primark arrives in the U.S. with prices that make H&M look expensive.

Price is by far the biggest reason Primark is the undisputed victor in Britain’s cheap-fashion war. Secondary are its up-to-the-minute designs, jazzy stores, and tireless promotion on social media. Primark doesn’t sell online and barely advertises. Instead, customers advertise it for free, posting thousands of selfies with their latest outfits, using the #Primania hashtag to be rated and critiqued. The best images get cycled onto giant in-store LED screens to spur impulse buying.
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In September it opened its first American store, a 77,000-square-foot, four-floor flagship in downtown Boston—chosen in the hope that the city’s many college students, who come from all over the country, would sing Primark’s praises on Instagram, spreading the message beyond New England.
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The store is a finely tuned machine designed to encourage Instagramming. There’s Wi-Fi everywhere, and the #Primania hashtag is inscribed on mirrors in fitting rooms big enough for two—friends can pile in together, phones out, snapping away.