UK Friends, Tell me about Primark

Because we can't seem to stay home, even when we say, "We are not traveling internationally in 2019, so we can save money and hit a couple US places that have been on our list," we are headed back to London in April. Several months after our first trip, Primark started releasing a lot of Disney items, including pins. Today, Disney Pins Blog shows a Dumbo set that was released recently and so I am wondering how long new releases stick around. Are they restocked, so older sets that I like would also be still available? In the stores, where do we go look for the Disney items. I know they sell a lot of wallets and purses too, anything else?

Thanks!

I went into Primark back in 2017... the store was absolutely crazy busy. Crowded. There were no pins at the time (that I was aware of), so I cannot speak to the pins. But...

Its a department store with amazingly low prices. Clothing, shoes, accessories, etc. Mens, womens, kids. My daughter bought some Converse like shoes covered in blue glitter, a t-shirt and I picked up some other things... the only thing I remember were some hair bands (which to this day I swear are better than the hair bands I buy here.) The prices were amazing (somewhat because the $$ conversion was so much better than my last trip to London in 2004.)

The area around the registers was filled with toys, trending items and gizmos... so I would take a wild guess and say pins would be near the registers.

Loved Primark, but then I loved almost everything about the trip, so much fun checking out London.

That's wild, we might be over there at the same time!

Abyssinian28 said:

That's wild, we might be over there at the same time!

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We are there 4/14-4/21. The main purpose of the trip is so that my husband can go to a football game (Blackburn @ QPR if anyone cares. Blackburn is his team). Whatever gets me across the pond

Hey . It varies from store to store , my local one (Exeter) very rarely even gets them
The London one is the flagship store so they do tend to get at least a few of virtually every set you see online , usually the pins are with the Women's Accessories but the simplest way is to just ask at the customer service desks . Do be aware the quality isn't always the best so make sure you double check anything you buy

As for what else :
Handbags / Make-up sets / Photo frames / Pillows / Keychains
They do a LOT of Harry Potter stuff too

Also since you're there keep an eye out for the store "Poundland" , they started selling cloth bags for £1 each with some great Disney designs . Useful for taking you're stuff home in and stylish to boot

Primark has such a good variety of Disney merch these days - clothes, accessories and homeware of lots of different characters. It's definitely worth checking out! In central london there are two stores - I'd recommend the Tottenham Court Road store over the Marble Arch store because it has a really cool Harry Potter section, that has items you cant' really find in the smaller, local stores.
I do not believe that they restock the pins - the only time I can recall any Disney merch getting restocked were Chip purses that were selling for three times the price online, but you never know! Where the pins are differs with each store, sometimes they are with the jewellery, other times with the bags and keychains so it's worth asking.
As for the range of disney items the main things I can think of are t-shirts, pyjamas, socks, slippers, jumpers, bags, purses, keychains and jewellery. It's also worth checking out the homeware department as they tend to have lots of disney things too - mugs, candles, blankets etc.
Hope you have a wonderful trip!

Thanks, everyone!

Primark is fantastic we always go in there when in London would also recommend the Tottenham Court Road one as it always has the stock I want there are loads of Disney stuff the things they have at the minute are Mickey Mouse and Minnie Mouse bags purses wallets key rings and trainers also they have started doing stitch merchandise I managed to get the stitch pins which are very cute!
Here's a link to there website it shows products on there but you can't order online as they don't do an online store

Here's the link to the website
Primark - Homepage

So another question, do you guys happen to know which markets or shop areas are more likely to have second hand Disney stuff, or just Pop Culture collectibles stuff (as opposed to nicer antiques/home goods)? We did go to Portobello Road, on our first trip because Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and while I saw a few things, their wasn't anything spectacular.

Or, I guess, in general, which markets you prefer. We really enjoyed the Greenwich market, all of Greenwich actually. So we are going back there. We walked through Covent Garden, too. I have seen recommendations online for the Camden Market, but the recent reviews say the new owner has "ripped the soul" out of it and kicked out the arts & crafts eclectic stuff.

There's a shop called forbidden planet in London that sells film products and a few Disney things as well as for the market sort of things there's Covent Garden has an uncover market/stalls that sell things but not 100% sure that they sell any thing Disney there is also a Disney store on Oxford street

We visited all those places on our first trip. . So mostly wondering what else we might have missed.

hopemax said:

We visited all those places on our first trip. . So mostly wondering what else we might have missed.

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Yeah, I always got the impression that there wasn't as much in Europe as you would hope. All the comic shops and everything just carry the current releases, and there's not that many to begin with. I guess everything is online.

Hopefully, someone can tell us if there's a hidden gem, but I'm not expecting it. I mean, we barely have anything here in Orlando, and America is kind of the pop culture king (well, along with Japan ^_^). It's like you have to go to Anaheim to get used goods anymore in a brick and mortar location...

I'll be overlapping with you for only 2 days.

BTW, did you ever get my Tokyo PM to you? You never replied, but I had assumed you just got busy planning. Knowing my luck, though, it was eaten before it even got to you. I was curious how your trip went, and if you found anything super cool in Nakano or Aki.

Abyssinian28 said:

Yeah, I always got the impression that there wasn't as much in Europe as you would hope. All the comic shops and everything just carry the current releases, and there's not that many to begin with. I guess everything is online.

Hopefully, someone can tell us if there's a hidden gem, but I'm not expecting it. I mean, we barely have anything here in Orlando, and America is kind of the pop culture king (well, along with Japan ^_^). It's like you have to go to Anaheim to get used goods anymore in a brick and mortar location...

I'll be overlapping with you for only 2 days.

BTW, did you ever get my Tokyo PM to you? You never replied, but I had assumed you just got busy planning. Knowing my luck, though, it was eaten before it even got to you. I was curious how your trip went, and if you found anything super cool in Nakano or Aki.

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Yes, I did. And yes, life just got in the way for responding. I am working on my Trip Report, with a lot of photos, but apparently, I have a lot to say, and it's a lot of writing. And I get disinterested in that much required writing, so keep putting it off. We only went to Nakano, but we had a really good time. I found a "grail to me" in the Dreamlights boxed set, and a bunch of reasonably priced TDS Game prize pins. Which was exactly what I was hoping to find. I could have bought more but I think I was already overwhelming some of the sellers with how much I wanted, and I didn't know what the reaction would be to, "I want all the pins!" We are probably all going back next year, and my Dad wants to visit both Nakano and Akihabara, so we will be planning at least 2 days in the city next time, lol.

hopemax said:

Yes, I did. And yes, life just got in the way for responding. I am working on my Trip Report, with a lot of photos, but apparently, I have a lot to say, and it's a lot of writing. And I get disinterested in that much required writing, so keep putting it off. We only went to Nakano, but we had a really good time. I found a "grail to me" in the Dreamlights boxed set, and a bunch of reasonably priced TDS Game prize pins. Which was exactly what I was hoping to find. I could have bought more but I think I was already overwhelming some of the sellers with how much I wanted, and I didn't know what the reaction would be to, "I want all the pins!" We are probably all going back next year, and my Dad wants to visit both Nakano and Akihabara, so we will be planning at least 2 days in the city next time, lol.

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Understandable, about not finishing the report yet. I don't know if I've ever finished a trip report in my life...lol.

I'm shooting for 2021 for our next trip over...give them a chance to recover from the Olympics. I hope you can talk your dad into at least a few days in Tokyo proper. It's so worth it, even if your main focus is Disney.

Some of the shops in Nakano (and Aki) used to intimidate me a little, because some of them are commission shops, and someone told me early on (like, 2006) that they didn't like foreigners buying stuff from them, because some of them have you fill out paperwork? But I feel like that system is mostly defunct now, and they've streamlined the commission cubes so buying is easier.

I'll have to check your Pinpics if you brought home traders. I'm a TDS game prize completionist, but I haven't been focusing on it, so I have a lot of holes.