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21st February 2014 - 27th February 2014
3 CW
Finally! Primark opens and 50 Shades shoots!
TWO massivelyhyped events are finally here, and the ladies will have big smiles on their faces this week.
The long-awaited Primark store finally opens in Santa Cruz on Thursday (27th Feb) and, over the weekend, the 50 Shades of Grey movie will be filming in El Medano. The Primark opening has been a year in the making, but the doors will open to the public at 11am. The Centro Comercial Meridiano, in the centre of Santa Cruz, is expecting a large crowd for the opening ceremony, which will be attended by Breege O’Donoghue, director of Primark, and Jose Luis Martínez de Larramendi, CEO of Primark Iberia. Santa Cruz Mayor Jose Bermudez and Cabildo President Carlos Alonso are expected to be among a number of VIPs who will also witness the cutting of the ribbon. The new store has over 3,000sq.ft of shop floor on two levels, manned by more than 130 employees.
While the reality of Primark in Tenerife has excited shoppers, there have, predictably, been some grumblings. Sections of the Island’s commercial sector have expressed concern about the arrival of the low-cost clothes chain. Some have claimed that the shop will be a “diversion” from the other Commercial Centre shops. Moujir Abbas, secretary general of the Federation of Urban Areas of Canarias (FAUCA), said: “We are working hard to enhance the historical district of Santa Cruz, but this is diverting customers and
could harm the downtown areas.” Tenerife’s Primark shop will be the Irish company’s 39th in Spain, and staff are getting into the Carnival spirit. They will be giving away 25-euro vouchers to the first 50 customers who appear in fancy dress. Well, once they have made a purchase! Primark was originally called Penney’s and started out in Ireland, opening its first shop in Dublin in June 1969. Within the year, four more stores appeared in and around the Dublin area. By 1971, it had opened its first non-Dublin
store in Cork and in that year, 11 more stores had opened up across Ireland. Northern Ireland swiftly followed, and by 1973 there were 17 shops in Great Britain. Over the next 10 years, the number of shops increased in both the UK and Ireland, with a total of 22 stores in the UK and the same number in Ireland. From 1984 to 1994, the brand began to purchase Woolworth stores and, by the end of 1994, the group had 66 branches. Following the acquisition of the BHS group in 1995, the brand became more known on
the high street. By 1999, the group had acquired stores from the Co-op and a year later saw the demise of C & A in the UK. Some of the empty premises were snapped up by Primark, taking its chain up to a total of 108 stores. It was one of the great success stories of all, but the company had more expansion in mind, opening Spain’s initial Primark in Madrid in May 2006 the first Primark was opened in Madrid. Another store followed in Murcia that same year, and the brand has since blossomed all over Europe. There are now stores in the Netherlands, Portugal, Germany and Belgium. The first Canary Islands’ store arrived in Gran Canaria in 2010, and there are now two shops there. Whilst Santa Cruz can expect a shopping frenzy this week, there will be a different kind of crowd in Los Abrigos, straining to get a glimpse of the latest Hollywood blockbuster to film on these shores. The cast and crew of Fifty Shades of Grey
will be shooting the ‘Honeymoon’ scenes at Playa de la Tejita in El Medano. Actors Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson will portray Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the erotic telling of the best selling book. There have been rumors in America that Dakota Johnson’s real-life boyfriend is extremely jealous over the actress’s lovemaking scenes with Jamie Dornan in the film. The filming team will be in Tenerife for four days shooting the romantic rendezvous scenes, before production moves to Madrid. This weekend’s shooting is the latest location shoot on our islands from major Hollywood studios. The Clash of the Titans and sequel Wrath of the Titans has opened the way for more and more location work. Recently Ron Howard filmed In the Heart of the Sea featuring Thor star Chris Hemsworth in La Gomera while Ridley Scott’s upcoming epic movie Exodus, starring Christian Bale, were also filmed across the water.