Primark, better knows as Penneys in Ireland, has opened its new flagship store in Madrid on Gran Vía. The shop, in the commercial hub of the capital, is Primark’s largest store in Spain, with a retail area of 133,000 sq ft and covering five floors.

Primark Gran Vía is the company’s eighth store in Madrid and will employ 573 people. With this new opening, the 41st in Spain, Primark has a total workforce of 7,400 employees in Spain.

The new store was opened by the Irish Ambassador to Spain, David Cooney, Paul Marchant, Chief Executive and Stephen Mullen, Director General Iberia.

A Primark spokesperson said: “Spain has been one of our most important markets in Europe since the first store opened in 2006. The new Gran Vía store is a key store opening in the company’s business strategy in this country.”

The store’s design and layout builds on Primark’s latest contemporary shop fit concept and features the latest trends in women’s, men’s and children’s fashions including footwear, accessories as well as lingerie and home wares. The store has 131 cash registers and 91 fitting rooms to keep the traffic flowing.

In Association with

In the remodelling of the store, Primark maintained several architectural and decorative elements that were distinctive in these stores, such as the façades of multiple windows, the massive 30-metre dome, the circular hall with its balustrade and staircase.

The store is located in one of the most iconic buildings on Madrid’s Gran Vía. The former Almacenes Madrid-Paris opened its doors in January 1924, with the aim of bringing the French grands magasins to Spanish society.

Primark is one of the largest clothing retailers in Europe. It has 294 stores and employs over 62,000 people across ten countries. The company, a subsidiary of Associated British Foods plc, was founded by Arthur Ryan in Ireland in June 1969, where it continues to operate under the name Penneys.

In September 2015, Primark opened its first store in the US, in Boston and will enter the Italian market in 2016.