Bahrain’s City Centre has seen many crowds due to the opening of Primark, the Irish apparel store, for the very first time in Bahrain, being the 20th country and the fifth Gulf state where the chain store has opened. Primark Bahrain store opening
The two-story building with an area of 43,000 square feet has more than 320 employees and it was opened with the help of the partnership of Alshaya, which is the Kuwaiti retail group, that has introduced the chain store in Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates.
The crowd has been boosted up with the arrival of customers from Saudi Arabia who have come across the King Fahd Causeway.
Ireland’s Ambassador-designate to Bahrain, Micheál Smith, attended the opening alongside Majid Al Futtaim Asset Management chief executive Khalifa C and Alshaya Group CEO John Hadden, calling it one of his first official events in the country and praising Alshaya’s role in bringing the brand to the region.
Hadden described customer response to the store as strong, and confirmed Primark’s regional rollout will continue quickly: a second Bahrain branch is set to open at the Avenues mall next April, preceded by a new store in Doha’s City Centre at the end of October.
For City Centre Bahrain, the launch offers a boost after the mall lost anchor tenants including Debenhams and Saks Fifth Avenue in recent years.
Centre management said the arrival of Primark — now present in three Majid Al Futtaim-owned malls in the region, alongside branches in Dubai’s Mall of the Emirates and Mirdif City Centre — was expected to draw significant new footfall.
Primark, known across Europe for combining low prices, large-format stores and an in-person-only shopping model, has expanded steadily into the Gulf over the past year.
Group chief executive Eoin Tonge called the Bahrain opening a milestone for the brand and said the company was looking to build on early momentum seen in its Kuwaiti and Emirati stores. Bahrain Economy
