Primark in Bury St Edmunds opens today

It’s the day legions of shoppers in Bury St Edmunds have been waiting for – the opening of the town’s new Primark.

After more than a year’s worth of renovation works and a social media campaign calling on the fashion retailer to open a branch in Bury, the store will welcome customers at 10am today.

The new 33,300sqft store is on the ground and first floors of the former Debenhams at the arc Shopping Centre.

Primark is to invest more than £6 million this year in the shop which has employed 150 people.

Philippa Nibbs, the company’s director of sales for London and South East, said: “It’s an exciting year for us.

“We’re really committed to doing sustainable fashion at affordable prices. And it’s something that we are very proud of and of course we’re very thrilled to be here.

“We certainly hope people come and enjoy what we have here.

“We feel very strongly that we’re committed to the community. We wanted to complete our East Anglian story, with stores already in Ipswich and Norwich.

“It’s a beautiful store and we hope the customers love the product range that we have here.

“There’s something available for everyone and we can meet so many needs. Going out at night, going on holiday, going to the gym, and more. I’m hoping we’re going to be very busy for the future days ahead.”

The new store has 27,000 different clothing items.

It has five staffed tills and 15 self-service tills.

The firm confirmed in November 2022 that it would open the branch in Bury.

It follows demand from shoppers in West Suffolk and the Primark for Bury St Edmunds Facebook group, which has thousands of members.

SuffolkNews was given a first look inside the store yesterday.

On Tuesday night, friends and family of staff were the first to shop in the new branch.

First in the queue were Daisy and Bianca Darcy-Jones, Stephanie Hales, Kirsty and Ruby Jackson and Brooke Pearson.

They were followed by Quitia and Ellis Greer and J-naya Fairley.

Everyman Cinema opened in the basement of the former Debenhams on Valentine’s Day.

The former department store shut in May 2021 when the struggling firm disappeared from the high street.