In this week's Careers Newsletter, read BoF senior correspondent Sheena Butler-Young's latest: Who International Retailers Hire to Crack the US Market.
When Primark was plotting its US entry in 2014, among the first people the Dublin, Ireland-based retailer hired was a head of human resources.
The company went with Susan Hoffman, a 30-year veteran in the field, mostly at PepsiCo and BJ's Wholesale, to head up what's known internally as the people and culture team. In the US, that title carried extra weight: Hoffman was tasked with helping a leader brought in from Dublin navigate the "geographically complex" and "incredibly diverse" US market, said John Hadeed, who succeeded Hoffman in the role after she retired in 2023.
"Those first hires have to be rooted in what's critical to running the business and understanding the local market," he said. "We want to show up as Primark in the US, we don't want to show up as some American version of Primark."
Primark is one of a growing number of European and Asian retailers in the midst of major US rollouts. The Irish retailer opened roughly a dozen stores there last year, with plans to reach 60 locations by 2026. Spain's Zara and Mango and Japan's Uniqlo are also expanding their footprint; the latter is doubling its North American store count with 20 new locations this year.
The US is the biggest apparel market, and its consumers have proven more resilient than in other major economies. But breaking through is hard; what works in a retailer's home country doesn't always translate to an American audience. For every H&M or Zara, which have operated successfully in the country for decades, there's many more Uniqlos, which have needed multiple attempts to build their US business.
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