Cocoa Brown’s Marissa Carter gives us the inside scoop on Primark U.S.A!

14 September

Hi Everyone,

Last week Marissa Carter, founder of Cocoa Brown was in Boston on business. As luck would have it Primark were opening one of their biggest stores to date while she was there.

So Marissa headed along and blogged all about it especially for pippa.ie

I’m delighted we get to see right inside the store. It sounds so modern with their phone charging areas and chill out zones. Something that I think all Irish stores will be following suit with soon.

Thanks so much to Marissa for sharing your experience with us.

We might see you again soon on pippa.ie 😉

Now! I just need to get my hands on those grey boots!

Last week I went to Boston on business for five days ahead of Cocoa Brown’s big stateside launch. I was attending a super-conference on social media which had people like Chelsea Clinton, original Girl Boss Sophia Amoruso and Amy Schumer speaking at it. While I was there Penneys (aka Primark outside of Ireland) opened its first ever store in the US, which happens to be in Boston and I went along to the launch.

The store is absolutely huge, way bigger than any Penneys at home. It has four floors of clothes, homeware, shoes and more shoes and of course beauty. Cocoa Brown will be on shelves here this week!

I met with some of Primark staff from around the world that are there to train up the American staff. Rafel here knew all about Cocoa Brown from his store in the UK.

I also got to meet this Irish legend, Breege O’Donoghue. As a director she’s shaped Penneys for decades and has paved the way for many Irish women in business over the years. She was wearing a Penneys dress that she designed herself, you can find it in store in burgundy.

I was missing my Xpose slot back home so I decided to do some TV work while I was stateside and gave an interview to Dirty Water TV and the Boston Herald all about Cocoa Brown and tontouring.

I also checked out the beauty aisles where my Tough Stuff and Gentle Bronze babies will hold fort from this week on.

Not content with the launch night I decided to pop back to Downtown Crossing before I flew home for some Primark retail therapy.

I decided to bring some of my babies along with me too.

The cool thing about the store is all the add-ons, like hang-out spots on all the floors and these charging stations for your phones, for when they die from too much Snapchatting.

There’s also free wifi in the store.

Another super cool element to the US store is the Primarket area that sells lots of pieces of paraphernalia like this cute chalkboard……

Other life-savers include these power banks (in pink) to charge your phone on-the-go.

I bought three.

But despite all the modern twists the store hasn’t forgotten its roots and there’s a nice nod to the past in the form of a mural of Filene’s basement, the store that originally occupied the building.

As for the clothes – there are lots and lots and lots. They are more or less the same as home and at similar prices but apparently new stock will be brought in every single day.

After scoping out every floor and aisle I decided to do some shopping, some for me in the homeware section and some for the kids too.

I got this super cute knit dress for Belle that came with tights….

And because winter is setting in I got this coat for Charlie.

I also got myself these amazing over-the-knee boots, I found the second last pair on the shelf.

While I was travelling and shopping alone had Ronan been with me he could have hung out here in the relaxation booths.

As I made my way to the check-out I walked past the coats section on the ground floor, there are walls of them. I tried on this tan beauty….

But it didn’t make it to the tills with me.

The till area made me think I was at home in Dundrum for a second as it has all the same bits like the lip balms and canvas bags, only they love Boston, not Dublin.