Businesses located close to Primark in Belfast city centre have said they're happy to see the flagship store's return.
A target reopening date of the first week of November 2022 has been announced. It comes after a fire broke out at the premises on August 28, 2018 while the Caste Street store was undergoing a major refurbishment and extension that was estimated to cost £30m.
Businesses in the immediate area were impacted by the fire and construction work that has been continuing in the years since, particularly those on Castle Street.
Read more: Primark’s newly refurbished flagship store in Belfast to reopen this year
City Picnic owner Gavin Gregg said the reopening of Primark should become a catalyst for re-imagining the streets around it, instead of simply opening up and continuing with business as usual.
He said Castle Street is often "forgotten" and could benefit from a community parklet similar to those in other parts of the city centre, which could help reduce incidents of anti-social behaviour in the area.
"We've had it pretty rough with the Primark fire and the pandemic," he said. "So we're really looking forward to Primark reopening. It's been four years since the fire, but businesses have been impacted for six years as they built Commonwealth House at the back first.
"For us, we want to see Belfast City Council and the Department for Infrastructure working together to make a pedestrianised area in this part of Castle Street to create more life and atmosphere to Belfast. I think they should create a beautiful park with a seating area at the bottom outside Primark, so businesses can enjoy some lovely days out in the sunshine, and in the winter you can even have heaters and bands playing.
"Their plan is probably just to go back to normal, but the area needs to be completely re-imagined. It would also help clear the area of the drugs and bad behaviour we're seeing quite a lot of in these areas, to make Belfast alive again. The streets have been closed for four years, so there's no reason they need to reopen to buses and traffic now."
Kathleen McGoven of Abacus Beads has been operating in the area for the past 31 years. She said she's happy to see the return of Primark and an end to disruptive construction work outside her shop.
She said over the past few years, the construction work has given the impression Castle Street is closed, with many people calling the shop to ask if they're still open.
The fire followed closely by the pandemic also led to a number of local businesses in the street closing down, with Kathleen saying she hopes the area can become a vibrant shopping street once again.
She said: "I'm hoping it's going to attract people into the city centre more generally. It's slap bang in the middle of the main shopping area, and due to the construction work coming out so far onto the street, it gives the impression our street has been closed.
"I hope the Council is able to get that area tidied up as well, as it's become quite dirty due to the construction work.
"After the fire, I located to Queen's Arcade for a few months but it was like starting from scratch as we weren't able to get into the shop to get stock initially. That was a really difficult time for me, I almost closed up permanently.
"But I've kept going. We've been open 31 years this year, it would be hard to walk away. I've had great support from family and loyal customers to keep me encouraged to keep going. A few of us businesses were saying the Primark fire prepared us for lockdown - it was like our own mini pandemic. It was like if we had got through that, we could get through Covid.
"A lot of the independent businesses on this street closed in the past few years. I would love to think more independents could get going here again. It's such a corridor into the city from that end of town, it would be great if it could return to the vibrant shopping street it once was."
Further up the street, Damien Mallon of C. Mallon Family Butchers said they were very quiet when the fire first happened and the surrounding area was cordoned off.
As time has gone on, business has been steadily picking up, but he hopes the reopening of Primark will give the area a much-needed boost in the run up to Christmas.
"When it first burnt down, we were really quiet, it was like a ghost town around here," Damien added.
"Then Covid hit and the city centre was completely quiet. Hopefully it will help it all open up and bring people back into the city centre. It's hard for the city to recover, we do need the shop reopened to help businesses around it and try to get back to normal."
Retail NI's Chief Executive, Glyn Roberts, said the reopening of Primark will be a "much-needed boost" for the city centre and its traders.
He added: "This store was always a huge footfall driver for our members in Royal Avenue and the city centre as a whole.
"Whilst the city centre is experiencing serious challenges at present, its future has huge potential to be a fun, family friendly destination with a dynamic retail and hospitality offering."
SDLP councillor Carl Whyte said the reopening of the historic building should serve as the catalyst for the wider redevelopment of the city centre.
He said the reopening of Primark should mark a "turning point" towards re-imagining the city.
“It’s hard to overstate the impact the fire at bank buildings nearly four years ago has had on our city centre. It was not just Primark that suffered as a result of this fire, many businesses in the vicinity of Bank buildings were forced to close their doors – some permanently – and both traffic and pedestrians had to be rerouted with significant knock-on effects," Cllr Whyte added.
“The fire, followed by the coronavirus pandemic have been huge contributors to the decline of Belfast city centre that has been much discussed in recent months. Thankfully we are emerging from the worst of the pandemic, but many businesses are still being squeezed due to the cost of living crisis, with further closures likely without a significant intervention.
“The reopening of Bank buildings should mark a turning point in our approach to the city centre and provides an opportunity for us to reimagine it going forward. This won’t happen overnight, we need to examine our approach to a range of issues that have contributed to the decline, including increased drug dealing, crime, anti-social behaviour along with more empty retail units and problems with cleanliness.
"We have an opportunity to grasp a fresh start, but we need political will to address these issues and put a programme of transformation in place.”
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