“I don’t even like taking a day off if I’m not well – I just love going into work”
Primark in Belfast has undergone some serious changes over the past five decades, but one constant throughout has been Mary Flynn.
The 77-year-old grandmother clocked in on her first day of work at the popular retailer on October 27, 1975 and has been loving working on the shop floor ever since.
Last week, Mary’s beloved colleagues celebrated her 50 years of service at Primark with an “unbelievable” party in her honour, a sentiment which brought tears to her eyes when reflecting on it.
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The milestone makes her one of the longest-serving customers in the entire company and she told Belfast Live that she has no plans of hanging up the blue uniform just yet.
Mary said: “Everybody’s been so, so good – I couldn’t say a bad word about anybody.
“All the staff are fantastic, and even the customers have got to know us through the years and they come in asking ‘how are you’ and all, you know.
“You can’t say a bad word about in here, it’s really good because everybody is so happy, I love it.”
When she and her sister responded to the job advertisement all those years ago, she could never have imagined the joy and connection she would gain from her workplace 50 years on.
Mary’s life and the world around her have certainly changed since she started at Primark – from passing checkpoints before her shifts began during the Troubles to welcoming her son Gerard into the world, many of her biggest milestones and standout memories can be charted alongside her career.
“I don’t even like taking a day off if I’m not well,” Mary said. “I just love going into work so I do.”
With her son and granddaughter living in Spain, Mary said she loves the social aspect of her job, chatting with both her colleagues and customers who pop in to say hello when out and about shopping.
Her Primark store in Belfast became arguably one of the most famous in the company when back in 2018, the historic Bank Buildings went up in flames, forcing the store to close.
Mary said: “I was in Spain when it went up and we were I was going home that night. I got all these phone calls from all the girls saying don’t be coming home.
“I thought they were joking – it was terrible. It broke my heart and I cried my eyes out, so I did.”
After an enjoyable stint in the Abbey Centre store after the fire, Mary said it was “fantastic” to get back into the flagship store when it was ready to open once again.
Having enjoyed working with hundreds of smiling faces over her five-decade career, Mary shared she once worked with one of NI’s biggest names in TV.
“Eamonn Holmes used to work here. Oh mummy, Eamonn was a geg – he used to be one of our managers in here.
“I think he was only about 19 or 20. The craic was always good with Eamonn so it was.”
It is clear that the staff in Primark love Mary as much as she loves them and has been described as a “terrific ambassador” for the company and a dearly beloved friend by all who get to work alongside her.
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