Carlisle's new Primark store - which opens tomorrow - has more retail space than BHS which was there before it.

The firm has reduced the amount of room given over to offices in order to increase the amount of selling space.

Manager Scott Alston will lead a team of 180 when the eagerly-awaited, two-floor store opens at 10am tomorrow.

Staff are busy putting the finishing touches to their conversion of the former BHS store in The Lanes Shopping Centre.

Mr Alston said he was excited by the launch, adding the shop looks much bigger than BHS because of the redesign.

Every inch of the walls are covered with Primark's Autumn/Winter collection with coat hangers, stands and shelves loaded with blouses, jeans, leggings, jeggings, shirts, coats, gloves, tights, floaty dresses, leather skirts, earmuffs, Captain America and Superman onesies, wraps, hats and hoodies - and that's just scratching the surface.

There's everything from cottonwool pads, umbrellas and handbags to sweets, hooks and colourful duvet cover sets.

Women's clothes, lingerie, hosiery and beauty are located on the first floor and men's clothes, children's wear and home collection are on the second floor.

Simon Gibbs, Primark's director of sales UK, said: “We are delighted to open a new store in The Lanes Shopping Centre, Carlisle.

"This is an important opening for Primark and we look forward to expanding our footprint and bringing the Primark brand to more customers.”


Kelly Pearson Kelly Pearson, 18, of Denton Street, Denton Holme, Carlisle, thinks Primark's arrival is good thing because the city needs more shops.

She said: "Everyone seems to be excited. I'm not going on Thursday because I think it's going to be so busy."

However Kelly also said everyone is going to be wearing the same clothes now, a concern Natasha Megson, 23, of Buchanan Road, Currock, Carlisle, shares.

She said: "I think it's nice that we have got the same [shop] that everyone else has got but everyone is going to be wearing the same stuff."

For more than 10 years people have speculated whether the national chain would come to the city and soon that wait will be over.

People are expected to travel across the county to be among the first to set foot in the new Carlisle store, which is the biggest store to open in The Lanes in 16 years.

Primark has signed a 25-year deal for the city premises, which is understood to be one of the company’s biggest deals in the UK.

Related: Sneak preview of Carlisle's new Primark store