Primark is called something totally different in Ireland

Who knew?

primark
(Image credit: Rex Features (Shutterstock))

Who knew?

You know when you realised you’d been pronouncing ASOS wrong your whole life? Well it turns out you’ve been using the wrong name for Primark too. We kid you not.

In case you weren’t aware of it, Primark (or Primarni if you like to be posh about it), was started in Ireland in 1962, and it was called Penneys. Which makes sense, given how cheap it is.

But when the founders brought it to the UK in the 70s, they had to change the name for legal reasons, basically so they couldn’t be sued by US retailer J. C. Penney.

It's still called Penneys over in Ireland, but funnily enough, there has been some confusion on Twitter, with people thinking it's just a completely separate cool Irish brand that hasn’t made it over here yet.

It’s cool, we’ll give you that, but yeah, it’s the same thing as Primark.

We’ll let you decide which name you prefer.

Penny Goldstone

Penny Goldstone is the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire, covering everything from catwalk trends to royal fashion and the latest high street and Instagram must-haves.

Penny grew up in France and studied languages and law at the Sorbonne Nouvelle University in Paris before moving to the UK for her MA in multimedia journalism at Bournemouth University. She moved to the UK permanently and has never looked back (though she does go back regularly to stock up on cheese and wine).

Although she's always loved fashion - she used to create scrapbooks of her favourite trends and looks, including Sienna Miller and Kate Moss' boho phase - her first job was at MoneySavingExpert.com, sourcing the best deals for everything from restaurants to designer sales.

However she quit after two years to follow her true passion, fashion journalism, and after many years of internships and freelance stints at magazines including Red, Cosmopolitan, Stylist and Good Housekeeping, landed her dream job as the Digital Fashion Editor at Marie Claire UK.

Her favourite part of the job is discovering new brands and meeting designers, and travelling the world to attend events and fashion shows. Seeing her first Chanel runway IRL at Paris Fashion Week was a true pinch-me moment.