IRISH clothing retailer Primark has announced plans to open its first outlet in the United States.
The store, which will be located in Boston Massachusetts, will open its doors next month.
The company has plans to open a further seven stores in the US, all in busy urban locations.
They will be serviced from a distribution centre in Pennsylvania.
In Ireland Primark trades under the name Penneys. The first store was opened in Dublin by Arthur Ryan in 1969.
In 1971, the company opened an outlet in Belfast city centre before opening four out of town stores in England in 1973.
The company soon expanded throughout Britain, and today have 167 stores in Britain and 35 in Ireland.
In 2005 Primark bought the Littlewoods chain for £409million, retaining 40 stores.
In October 2011, Primark began granting concession outlets.
Primark is now stocked in Selfridges department stores in Trafford Centre, Manchester; The Bull Ring, Birmingham; Oxford Street, London and King's Lynn in Norfolk.
Today the company has almost 100 branches throughout continental Europe in Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and the Netherlands.
Arthur Ryan, the founder, remains the company’s chairman.
Last month tragedy struck when Mr Ryan’s son Barry, 51, drowned alongside his grandson, Barry Davis Ryan, 21, and girlfriend, Niamh O'Connor, 20, in a freak accident at East Hole outside Baltimore in west Cork.
