Primark is not shutting down

Videos that have been viewed around seven million times on social media platform TikTok have claimed that the retailer Primark will be closing down in the UK on 1 March 2024, “due to bankruptcy”. Similar claims have also been made on X (formerly Twitter) and Facebook. 

However, Primark has told Full Fact that this is not true—the retailer is not shutting down. We’ve not seen any other evidence to support the claims either.

The posts on TikTok feature two pictures of exercise books, followed by an image of the entrance to a Primark store between two paragraphs of text. An apparent headline says: “Primark officially closing March 1st”. The text claims that Primark “has announced that it will be closing down all of its stores in the United Kingdom on March 1st, 2024, due to bankruptcy”.

In a second paragraph, the image claims that “The company has been struggling financially in recent years, and the Covid-19 pandemic has only exacerbated its problems. Primark has over 390 stores in 13 countries, and it employs over 60,000 people. The closure of the stores will result in the loss of thousands of jobs. The company has been in talks with potential buyers, but no deal has been reached”. 

A Primark spokesperson told Full Fact: “We can confirm that there's no truth to these rumours, we're not going anywhere. All our stores are open as usual and there's lots to look forward to as we continue to grow and invest over £100 million in our UK stores this year.”

False and misleading posts about retailers are common online. We’ve regularly fact checked claims that retailers are selling expensive products at extremely low prices. Online claims can spread fast and far, and are difficult to contain and correct. Internet companies should have transparent and structured global partnerships in place with fact checkers to effectively tackle misinformation on their platforms.

Image courtesy of Alex McGregor.