Reopening date for Primark Bank Buildings store four years after devastating fire

Primark has announced the official reopening date of its new Bank Buildings store in Belfast, following an extensive four-year restoration project.

Doors of the newly refurbished five-storey flagship store in Belfast, which is 76% bigger than the original site, will open on Tuesday, November 1 at 10am.

The new Primark store features 88,200 sq. ft. of retail space, including a new Disney café and Disney department on the second floor, a nail and beauty studio and a whole new fifth floor which will house a brand-new home department offering Primark’s homeware range in Belfast for the first time.

The reopening of The Bank Buildings follows four years of complex redevelopment including significant retention, demolition and re-building works at the site, with the aim of bringing this historic building back to life.

The newly building, which was ravaged by fire on August 28, 2018 will merge with the existing store on Castle Street.

In advance of the reopening, the smaller Primark store a short distance away at Fountain House on Donegall Place will close, with all employees transferring back to the new Bank Buildings store.

From November, customers in Belfast and beyond can shop the latest affordable autumn and winter fashion trends in addition to Primark’s great value essentials across women’s, men’s, kids’ and homeware, beauty, and accessories. Primark also recently announced its commitment to protecting prices on more than a thousand of its essential kids’ products this autumn as it seeks to help family finances go further amid the rising cost of living.

Committed to investing further in Northern Ireland, Primark will also open a brand-new store in Rushmere Shopping Centre, Craigavon later this year, with work progressing at the new site alongside the final touches to the Bank Buildings store.

Primark, which was founded in Ireland in 1969 under the Penneys brand, will also open a brand-new store in Rushmere Shopping Centre in Craigavon later this year, with work progressing at the new site alongside the final touches to its flagship store in Belfast.

Highlighting how restoring the historic building ‘has been an important and passionate project‘ for the business, Jacqui Byers, Primark Northern Ireland area manager, continued: “We are now in the final weeks of preparation to reopen our Bank Buildings store.

"Restoring this much-loved historic building has been an important and passionate project for our business.

"Our teams have approached it with such care and consideration, of course with the wider city of Belfast in mind.”

Thanking the Primark team and customers for their continued support, she added: “We would like to thank our colleagues, customers, the business community, and wider city of Belfast once again for their continued support following the fire, as without them we would not be in this position to reopen The Bank Buildings. We look forward to welcoming everyone to our beautiful new Primark store in the heart of Belfast next month to celebrate this significant moment with us.”