• by Erin Everhart , Staff Writer, Yesterday

I love retail. I fell in love with marketing because of retail. Sure, the SKU count is absurd, the merchants drive me crazy and don’t even get me started on all the acronyms, but there’s nothing quite like being a retail marketer.

And today is for my fellow retail lovers. You know who you are. The ones who can’t walk past a store without popping in “just to look,” but somehow walk out with three bags, the sales associates Instagram handle, and (dare I say) a renewed sense of purpose.

Primark is probably the biggest retailer you haven’t shopped at yet. This beloved European retailer is a shopping fever dream: fashion, home, beauty, baby clothes, socks, suitcases… all under one roof, and somehow still wildly affordable.

They’re still new to the U.S, having opened their first store state-side in 2015 and are now on pace to have 60 locations by the end of next year. They’re on a quest to become, dare I say, the third best thing out of Dublin, Ireland (behind Guiness and Jameson, of course).

And they’re doing this all without ecommerce. So how do you take a brand with massive global love and make it hit just right for American shoppers?

This week we sat down with Rene Federico, Head of U.S. Marketing at Primark, to talk about localizing a global brand and why sometimes the best way to connect with customers is still IRL. 

Listen to the full podcast: here.