Primark Romania — 9 stores, 2022–2026
Since December 2022, when Primark opened its first Romanian store at ParkLake Shopping Center, DRS-Architects has been the Irish retailer's local design partner for its entire network in the country. Nine stores in seven cities, from Bucharest to Iași, Cluj-Napoca, Timișoara, Craiova, Sibiu and Bacău, each an investment of roughly 10 million euros, have gone through the same process: the brand concept developed by JCA Architects in Ireland is checked, adapted to Romanian regulations and taken through permitting and construction by our team.
arh. Mihnea Munteanu
arh. Ovidiu Dobre
arh. Teodora Escu
arh. Stefan Tanase
arh. Dan Balinisteanu
Our role: from international concept to Romanian building permit
A Primark store has between 2,300 and 3,200 sqm of sales area, on one or two levels, with goods flows, fitting rooms and tills sized to a global standard. Our task is to make that standard work inside an existing building, a different one every time: we check compatibility with the host mall's structure and services, adapt the layout, escape routes and fire safety strategy to Romanian codes, prepare the documentation for approvals and the building permit, and coordinate the technical design and construction details with the JCA team and the shopping centre's owner. The pace is retail's own: the opening date is fixed before the project starts, and permitting has to keep up with it.
Fig. 01
The nine Primark stores in Romania
ParkLake Shopping Center, Bucharest — December 2022. Primark's first Romanian store and the brand's entry into the market.
AFI Cotroceni, Bucharest — 20 June 2023. Second store in the capital, a 10 million euro investment.
Iulius Town, Timișoara — 7 August 2024. First store outside Bucharest, a 10 million euro investment.
VIVO! Cluj-Napoca — 9 September 2025. Fourth store in the country and the first in Transylvania.
Electroputere Mall, Craiova — 9 June 2026. About 3,185 sqm, the first store in south-western Romania, an investment of over 10 million euros.
Shopping City Sibiu — July 2026. About 2,300 sqm, an investment of over 8 million euros.
Palas Mall (Iulius), Iași — 2 September 2026. About 3,100 sqm, the first store in the Moldova region, a 10 million euro investment.
Arena Mall, Bacău — 17 November 2026. About 2,300 sqm, inside the shopping centre extension also designed by DRS-Architects.
Sun Plaza, Bucharest — 26 November 2026. Third store in the capital, closing Primark's most ambitious year of expansion in Romania: five openings in under six months.
Fig. 02
What nine Primark stores taught us
Nine malls mean nine owners, nine sets of building services and nine local administrations with their own approval practices. What stays constant is the method: a technical audit of the space before the design contract is signed, a direct dialogue between the brand's architect, the centre's owner and our team, and a permitting schedule built backwards from the opening date. The experience gained with Primark is today the basis of our service for international retailers entering or expanding in Romania: we know the country's shopping centres from the inside, and we know, at each of them, where the weeks get lost.
Fig. 03
An international concept is not copied, it is translated: into local codes, into the host mall's structure and into the pace of the openings.
DRS-Architects team · November 2026