The largest Primark store in Spain is a money-making machine. It is so profitable that even Amancio Ortega makes money with it

The Primark flagship store on Madrid’s Gran Vía is not only a place to buy cheap clothes, but it has become a monument in the city, both for its size and for the historic building that houses it.

The flagship store of the Irish clothing brand has just completed its tenth anniversary active and leaves us with some really interesting figures and data. One of the most curious facts is who he is. really your home. It’s almost a cosmic joke.

A historical and popular monument. According to data Provided by the brand itself, the Primark store on Gran Vía has a total area of ​​12,500 square meters, making it the largest of the group in Spain and possibly one of the largest in the world. With more than five million visitors a year, it is one of the most visited commercial spaces in Spain and a key point of Madrid commerce.

It is located in the Paris Building, an emblematic building designed in 1924, notable not only for its architecture, but for its artistic decoration, represented by its majestic imperial staircase and its impressive glass dome. On their roofs it rages an epic battle between figures from Greek mythology: Diana the Huntress observes from the building opposite the fight to the death between the Phoenix sent by Zeus to punish Endymion, Diana’s lover. He testimony of that fight It is reflected in the form of two lost arrows of Diana, which from the sidewalk welcome visitors at the main entrance of the store.

This combination of history, architecture and grandeur makes the store an authentic “monument” on Madrid’s Gran Vía.

Official data and operating figures. According to the study data carried out by the consulting firm AFI on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the storearound 1,000 people of 28 nationalities work there, generating 500 indirect jobs through suppliers and additional services.

At an economic level, the store contributed 83 million euros in 2024 to the economy as a whole, of which 42 million euros corresponded to taxes and social contributions. To understand the economic dimension of this economic mastodon, it is enough to say that Primark’s enormous space contributes more than 10 million euros annually to the local Gross Domestic Product through its operations alone.

The “unofficial data.” Jaime PlaCEO of SUOP, has started a series of videos in the TikTok profile of the teleco, which details data and figures of emblematic buildings such as the Bernabéu, the Madrid airport or, of course, the Primark megastore.

Between data and estimates from the video that the businessman dedicates to this location, it is noted that the salaries of the employees who work in the store amount to approximately 2 million euros, while cleaning, security and insurance services represent a monthly expense of 100,000 euros. Added to this are 20,000 euros per month in electricity and water supplies. All this, together with the merchandise on display on its shelves adds up to an approximate cost of 11.7 million per month.

The “cosmic joke”: rent. According to the data provided by Pla, among these monthly expenses, 1.8 million euros are allocated to pay the rent for the building. This point is especially striking because the building where the store is located is owned by Amancio Ortega. It is ironic that the founder from Inditex, is collecting rent of the most important store of its main rival in the sector of retail textile.

Amancio Ortega, through Pontegadea, bought the Paris Building to Drago Real Estate Partners in 2015, just before the store opened to the public. It is not known exactly how much Pontegadea paid for him, but the starting price of the operation was 400 million euros.

Pontegadea: the “premium” landlord. Amancio Ortega founded Pontegadea with the intention of turning into profitable investments the dividends that its founder receives each year for 59.294% of Inditex shares. with those billionaire annual dividendsPontegadea has become Amancio Ortega’s second empire

Thanks to your strategic real estate investmentsOrtega has become in the home from companies like Amazon, Apple, Google, Spotify and, as if it were a cosmic joke, also from Primark, charging a millionaire rent to the main rival of the company that made him a millionaire.

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Image | Primark, GTRES