“It’s everywhere in Ireland, it’s special to us.”
Penneys (not Primark) is an institution.
We, as a collective nation, are obsessed with it.
And even if you claim to not be obsessed with it, those €18 skinny jeans on your legs and that five pack of Brazilian briefs in your underwear drawer at home beg to differ.
Rather than simply existing, Penneys has long been celebrated by the good people of Ireland for being on trend, cheap, and absolutely massive.
One person who’s all for celebrating Penneys is Valerie Loftus – so much so that she’s gone and written a legitimate book about it.
Thanks, Penneys is an ode to the store that’s brought us everything from questionable leggings to slogan tees to every kind of pair of knickers on the planet.
And they’re only two quid each as well. Bargain.
Valerie says that when she was approached to write the book, she wanted explore Ireland’s weird and unique relationship to the store.
“The name was always going to be Thanks, Penneys,” she said, “so after that it was just about where to go from there.”
“I started with the lingerie section. Everybody has every single type of knickers in their drawers from Penneys, so once I got that done, I knew where to go with the rest.”
Featuring hilarious illustrations from artist Ciara Kenny, the book dives into everything from Penneys’ harrowing changing room situation to the store’s incessant need to have the messiest shoe section in the entire world.
Valerie says that most of the time, the illustrations speak for themselves – after all, who among us couldn’t spot a dirt cheap Penneys home wear section from a mile away.
“I’d followed Ciara for a while and I knew her drawings would work well with what I was trying to do with the writing,” she says.
“There’s a great sense of humour in her work that we knew would go well with what I was on about. Even if you don’t read a word of the book it’s worth it for the pictures.”
While her own personal favourite branch is the Blanchardstown store (or the Ballina one – biggest in the midlands), Valerie says that over the years, Penneys has become more than just its individual stores.
Rather, it’s something that every single person in Ireland will have experience of – and will genuinely like.
“There’s always things you never knew you needed,” she says, “like a brush for doing your inner eye makeup or a hair mask made out of placenta, and you’re just like, I always needed this and now I have to have it.”
“I asked my friends who are emigrants, how do you explain it to Americans? Because over there, there’s no such thing. There’s Walmart and there’s Target but they’re not the same really.
“It’s cheap and cheerful, it’s got a good selection of bits, but also the fashion is actually good? The American places often don’t have fashion to back it up.
“It’s everywhere in Ireland too, it’s special to us.”
Thanks, Penneys is out now in Eason and other bookstores.
