By Niamh Anderson
Shoppers will receive an early Christmas present this December when fashion retailer Primark opens its Scottish flagship store in the capital.
Fans of the affordable chain have been eagerly anticipating the opening which will happen on December 10- in plenty of time for the Christmas rush.
The building, on 91-93 Princes Street, was granted planning permission by the City of Edinburgh Council last August following months of public consultation and planning.
But it was approved much to the delight of fans of the store, and will be located on the site of the former Marks & Spencer building on Princes Street.
Festive
A spokesman for Primark said: “We have been working tirelessly to create our new flagship store in the heart of Edinburgh over the past year, so we’re delighted to announce that it will be completed and open to shoppers on Saturday, December 10.
“We wanted to ensure that the store was up and running in time for the festive season, so that shoppers in the Capital could have the chance to visit during the run up to Christmas. With five floors of retail space, we will be able to stock a fabulous, extensive range of Primark clothing for men, women, children and homewear.
Primark fans in Edinburgh have had to travel as far as Dunfermline and Glasgow to visit the chain but shoppers will no longer have to make the journey to snap up some affordable fashion.
“We know there is a huge demand for a Primark in Edinburgh and we have planned to open a flagship outlet in the city for many years – so we’re delighted to have finally made this vision a reality.
The retail giant said that they wanted to respect the historical site on Princes Street.
“We have been very careful to respect the heritage and character of the Princes Street location. We believe we have created a contemporary building which is sympathetic to the historic nature of the location and is in keeping with the Georgian and Victorian facades on either side of us.
The store which has been recruiting already for the opening date will provide hundreds of new jobs in the city.
The spokesperson said that a new route between Rose Street and Princes Street has been included in the store, linking the two most popular shopping streets together for easy accessibility.
Success
“We’ve opened up a new pedestrian route that flows between Rose Street and Princes Street which we hope will help breathe new life into the city centre.
The upper levels of the store will also have views onto the famous Edinburgh Castle and Princes Street Gardens for the first time.
“It’s taken a lot of hard work to complete this project, but we’re confident that our new Edinburgh store will be a great success during this Christmas season and beyond.”
The huge 75,000 sq ft store was part of a 65-week project led by contractors Patton Group who used state of the art robotic equipment to demolish the previous building.
The flagship Edinburgh store is Primark’s 18th store in Scotland. Primark currently has 225 stores in Ireland, the UK, Spain, the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Belgium. A further two store openings will take place this week in Braga, Portugal and Malaga, Spain and there are a further six openings planned across Europe before Christmas.
