LVMH uses it. Primark too. The Irish clothing brand called on the research firm Asterès to demonstrate how the opening of one of its stores contributes to the creation of direct and indirect jobs in France. According to this short study unveiled Tuesday March 26, “a job created in a Primark store generates up to 0.7 additional jobs in the department” where is this point of sale located.
Just like the luxury group founded by Bernard Arnault, the brand is seeking to modify its image and raise awareness “its economic and social footprint” in France, explains Christine Loizy, general manager of Primark France, the third subsidiary of a chain having generated 10.4 billion euros in turnover for the 2023 financial year, ended in September, and an operating margin of 8.2%.
Why undertake such an exercise eleven years after the opening of its first French store in Marseille? More than ever, the “fast fashion” model, which the brand created in 1969 in Dublin falls under, is criticized. This large-scale production of clothing at low prices and delivered in continuous flow to stores raises questions about the social conditions of their manufacturing, particularly in factories in China and Bangladesh, and the environmental impact of their export to stores. In France, a bill, adopted at first reading in the National Assembly on March 14, intends to slow down the development of this industry to reduce its impact on the environment.
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From then on, Primark management worked to defend its concept by praising its social and environmental responsibility (CSR) policy at work in its four hundred and forty-one stores operated in sixteen countries. “By 2030, all Primark clothing will be made from recycled or recyclable fibres”thus reminds us, deliberately, of Mme Loizy. Obviously, the brand’s management is trying here to respond to criticism from environmental defense associations who criticize its greenwashing. In Brest, in February 2023, on the first day of the opening of a store in the Coat ar Gueven gallery, activists from the Extinction Rebellion and Youth for Climate associations slipped messages into the pockets of the clothes hanging on the shelves to inform the customers of the ecological damage of this industry.
The “comm stunt” from the company, which employs 7,000 people in France, is also aimed at local authorities: it is now revealing to them the amount of its investments in France. In 2023, she spent there “102 million euros to inaugurate eight stores” and carry its network of twenty-seven units, including seven in Ile-de-France. “Or 10 to 15 million euros per store”specifies Pierre Combet, real estate director of the brand.
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