Primark opening in Staten Island Mall Click to view in our new gallery experience. Gallery: View 17 Images on December 13, 2016 at 7:00 AM, updated Note: Click the accompanying image to scroll through a gallery of photos to see what Primark has to offer customers. STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Come March 16, you'll be able to walk into Primark in the Staten Island Mall, and buy the same T-shirt a shopper in Dublin, Ireland, may choose to purchase from a sister store. The 47-year-old company founded in Dublin, Primark has begun its expansion into the United States, with one of its first 10 stores opening in the Staten Island Mall, New Springville. "We offer amazing fashion, and amazing prices for all of the family. We also offer footwear, accessories, beauty and home," said Jose Luis Martinez De Larramendi, president of Primark US Corp. "Pricing is part of our DNA; we can offer the customer the best price in the market for comparable merchandise," he added.
Primark saw an opportunity to expand in the United States as part of Sears' downsizing operation. The retailer will be taking up 55,000 square feet -- the entire second floor of Sears -- in the Mall. The closest Primark store to Staten Island is in New Jersey's Freehold Mall. One will be opening in Brooklyn in the future, said De Larramendi. Primark will be hiring 200 people to staff its new Island store. This includes part-time and full-time salespeople, managers and supervisors, said Sue Hoffman, vice president of People & Culture for Primark. A recruitment center will open on Jan. 9 on the upper level of the Mall, outside Primark, where potential employees can fill out job applications. You can also apply via Primark's website. "We offer people to come to Primark for a job or they can make it a career," said Hoffman. "When employees aren't working on the sales floor we have this beautiful back of house, which is set up with an office layout floor plan, a beautiful cafe, wifi and Internet access, first aid room, locker rooms and a think tank training room for on-the-job, ongoing training," she added.
With fashion-forward T-shirts starting at $4 and sneakers as low as $7, Primark offers apparel and accessories for men, women and children. Since opening in the United States, Americans have been flocking to Primark, which boasts fashion-forward clothing at very inexpensive prices. "Everything in Primark is our own brand, so we source our merchandise from 700 suppliers in 37 countries. We manage to keep prices low because we don't do celebrity endorsements, we don't do national media campaigns and we buy in large volume," said Tim Kelly, director of communications for Primark. Other ways Kelly says the company keeps prices affordable is by dealing directly with suppliers. "We are the No. 1 market share in terms of volume in the U.K., Spain, Portugal and Ireland. We buy directly with our factories. We don't own factories. We give our suppliers long lead times. We buy our fabric close to the production zones so we don't have unnecessary or complicated supply chains.
Then we ship the merchandise directly from the factories to our own distribution center," he added, noting the company's U.S. distribution center is in Bethlehem, Pa. Primark touts itself as one of the largest clothing retailers in Europe. It has 320 stores and more than 60,000 permanent employees in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, France and the United States. And you can't order from Primark online. While the company has a website where you can peruse merchandise, you can't purchase anything with the tap of a track pad or computer mouse. "We call ourselves a brick and mortar retailer. Customers can go to our website, look at what the latest fashion trends are, and then they can go to the store to buy them," said Kelly. Primark stores are known for state-of-the-art designs that often include modern amenities, such as wide aisles and LED lighting. "We are planning an incredible store environment -- really modern, really cool and up-to-date.
We'll have over 200 mannequins, light boxes, and the latest designs," said De Larramendi. FOLLOW TRACEY PORPORA ON FACEBOOK For related videos, see our YouTube playlist: on February 27, 2016 at 7:25 PM, updated UPDATE: Friends of slain Rahway sneaker store owner speak out at vigil (VIDEO) RAHWAY -- If someone asked Jamal "Mally" Gaines how his sneaker business was going, his mother said he always answered emphatically with the same one-word reply: "Boomin'!" Gaines, 21, co-owned the popular Irving Street sneaker boutique East Coast and was also partners in other tri-state stores, capitalizing on his love of being a "sneakerhead" which started when he was a teenager, said Tina Wilson, his mother. But it was at that same shop where Gaines' "booming" career as an entrepreneur was tragically cut short Friday when he was fatally shot. Authorities are investigating, but have so far not released a description of the suspect or a motive. His death rocked fans of the popular store, where fellow sneakerheads from around New Jersey and even out of state would come to shop.
On Saturday, while grieving the loss of her son, Wilson recalled his love of sneakers -- estimating that her son owned as many as 500 pairs at one time -- his love of family and his absolute determination to succeed in business. "His whole life was buying sneakers, and he'd make one of us camp out in line with him when a new pair was coming out," Wilson said. Later, she said, he convinced her to buy a van so they could be more comfortable when there was a long wait, taking turns in shifts on overnight lines. He was even able to talk his grandmother into a camp-out one time, his mother said. After graduating from Rahway High School in 2012, where he was on the wrestling team, Gaines went to Union County College for a week -- "to appease me I think," said, Wilson -- but left to pursue his true passion of being in the sneaker business. She said her son read finance-guru Tony Robbins books and studied other inspirational entrepreneurs. He eventually sold most of his beloved sneaker collection and worked stacking boxes at FedEx in order to scrap together the necessary funds for his first store, but after three months, he went out of business.
The setback didn't stop him, though, his mother said, noting that he had overcome other difficulties, including serious injuries from a bad car accident during high school and an eye disease that required surgery and caused him to be blind in one eye. But he was always determined, Wilson said. "He was extremely loving, and he just wanted to help people," she said. "He had a big heart and was always trying to make it big to help his family. He and his sister were inseparable." Divinity Gaines, 23, his sister, recalled how she would pick on her little brother when he was a kid and "teeny." But he grew big enough to fend her off one day (eventually growing to over six-feet) and they never fought again after that, she said. "I've always pushed my kids to do what they love," Wilson said. "Failure was not an option for him. He had pictures of the house he was going to buy one day and was about to expand the business." Most of the customers from the shop didn't hail from Rahway, but came from a distance because of its reputation, his mother said.
East Coast even had visits from a few celebs, including DJ Khaled and 90s hip-hop trio Naughty By Nature. Today, the family spent some time debating which pair of sneakers was his favorite. They decided on his wolf grey Jordan 5s. "He saved up for them and said he wouldn't go to the prom unless he wore them," Wilson said. "Sure enough, he got them the day of the prom." Another favorite were a pair signed by rapper Lil Wayne after he paid a bodyguard to let him backstage, and when he met his idol couldn't "stop screaming," his mom remembered with a laugh. "He was always making people laugh and liked to make jokes and create weird words," she says. "But he also wanted people to work hard." A vigil is being held tonight for Gaines at 9 p.m. in front of the Irving Street store and his funeral will be held Thursday, at 1 p.m. at Agape Family Worship Center in Rahway. Anyone with information about the shooting is being urged to contact Homicide Task Force Sgt. Michael Manochio at 908-966-2287 or Detective Sofia Santos at 908-577-4256.