York Primark opens for 39-hour non-stop shopping marathon

One of York’s Primark stores is opening around the clock for a second time, to help make up for lost Christmas shopping time.

The store at Monks Cross was due to open at 9am this morning (Friday, 18 December) and not close again until midnight on Saturday night.

This marathon, 39-hour shift is designed “to help reduce queues and give customers more time to shop safely,” the company said.

To support overnight opening hours, Primark has increased its night time security staff by almost 70% to manage customer queues and help ensure customers feel safe when they are shopping.

Primark retail director Simon Gibbs said: “The safety of our employees and customers remains our highest priority. The ability to stay open through the night has meant more shoppers can shop safely with us over the festive season.

“We would like to thank customers for their continued cooperation on our social distancing policy and remind them to be considerate of our safety measures, and of others, both while queuing outside and in-store.”

Primark will also be updating customers via Twitter from 8pm on 18 December to 8am on 19 December, with hourly queue waiting time updates at stores operating overnight shopping.

“These live updates will help to keep customers informed on queue times and allow them to make a decision to visit the store during quieter periods,” a spokesperson said.

It is the second time the store has opened for more than 24-hours at a time since the lockdown lifted.