Interview: Primark US boss Kevin Tulip on finally cracking America

The US is known as the land of opportunity and, with a retail market worth an estimated $4.55trn, that phrase is not an exaggeration.

It’s no surprise then that many retailers on this side of the pond have set out on a transatlantic voyage, but there have been more failures than successes.

Yet, for all the storied UK names that have tried and failed in the US, Primark is quietly bucking that trend under Kevin Tulip.

Tulip, who has been in the business for 20 years, has plans for an “aggressive” rollout across the US and is kicking off his quest for 60 stores before 2026 with three new openings in New York before the year ends, which will take the current store total to 16.

The plan is bold but not foolhardy because, according to Tulip, Primark has been planning its expansion meticulously since it first opened in Boston in 2015 and has learned many lessons in the process. 

“Our choice was to really understand what will work. The time from that first store in 2015 right the way up until around 2020 was spent really learning those early lessons”

Kevin Tulip, Primark

“There was a lot of work done around the size of stores, product mix, location,” Tulip tells Retail Week.  

“It makes it sound quite easy because I’m sitting here today, heading towards a growth plan, but we spent a lot of time and many years really getting that right.”

Instead of justifying its investment by immediately opening up a raft of stores, as many have done before it, Primark’s US expansion has been slow and steady, and it has resized several locations as it looks for the right formula.

“The choice could have been to open up a store and very quickly expand, and get into the market with as many downtown locations as possible,” says Tulip.

“But our choice was to really understand what will work. The time from that first store in 2015 right the way up until around 2020 was spent really learning those early lessons.”

Store size

In the US, Primark can’t bank on its brand awareness and it has a job on its hands to spread the word with no ecommerce business or TV advertising budget. So any new locations have to be in busy locations to get shoppers through the doors.

“It’s really important that we’ve got that footfall and that population density. Wherever we open our stores, we want to be around a good competitive set – 35,000 sq ft in the right location is working really well for us,” says Tulip.

“And we’re finding long-term leases; we’re not going into an area and setting up, and then moving out.”

Another mistake that has befallen other retailers is attempting to duplicate their home HQ in the US, which Primark will not be doing. 

“We give the leadership teams in stores autonomy and nobody is better placed to understand the community than that team. They can really shape that range to suit the customer”

Kevin Tulip, Primark

“We drive a lot of efficiencies,” says Tulip. “We don’t have a huge head office in Boston with loads of people allocating and pushing stock to stores. We have quite a lean team here in the US and we have a central team in Dublin.

“Instead we give the leadership teams in stores autonomy and nobody is better placed to understand the community than that team. They’re talking to their customers, understanding the profiles and their needs, and they can really shape that range to suit the customer.

“That will continue to happen every single hour, day, week, month, and what you end up with is a leadership team in the store who really, really understands their customer.”

Tulip is no doubt excited about Primark’s prospects across the country, but the market he is most excited about is Florida. 

“We’ve got a large number of stores in New York opening and I don’t want to take anything away from them – it’s an amazing state – but Florida is a very exciting market,” he says.

“We’ve got one store in Sunrise, Florida, and it’s fantastic for us. It’s given us a lot of confidence to really start growing in Florida. We have a second store opening in Orlando.”

It’s during trading in Florida where autonomy for store teams has really come into its own. HQ may have assumed, given that Floridian temperatures rarely dip below 16°C in January, that cosy winter products wouldn’t sell well, but the team identified the store’s popularity with tourists from South America and Europe who would be travelling back to colder climes.

“That store has great trade on things like slippers, coats and warm pyjamas. That’s what I mean about learning lessons. And there are local customers, too, who are really starting to discover Primark and having those moments of delight of walking in and saying: ‘Oh my God, that NBA jacket is only $55.’ So it trades well year-round on both.”

UK vs US

Primark’s gentle approach to expansion and connection to in-store teams have been key in discovering the differences between its US and UK shoppers. 

“We have a different model here in terms of our malls and our downtown areas versus the traditional high streets in the UK,” says Tulip.

“We see differences in terms of product mix and licensed products, and partnerships are more popular. Certainly, homeware in the EU and the UK is much bigger than it would be in the US. There are differences in terms of competition, too.”

On top of the usual global suspects like H&M and Zara, Primark sees big-box US grocers like Target and Walmart as its biggest competitors, but it thinks it has the edge on price to cut through.

“Given the current cost-of-living crisis that we’re in the middle of, we have a great product, we’ve got an amazing price point and we believe we’re unique in the US. 

“We believe that we’ve got that USP here and that’s why we can be successful. There is this gap in the market for Primark and we’re seeing it being fulfilled now.”

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