Sensory Friendly Shopping

At Penneys, we want everyone to feel welcome in our stores. In 2021, we introduced sensory friendly shopping hours to all stores nationwide in order to create an inclusive shopping experience for autistic people, their friends and families.

Every Sunday, for the first hour of opening we offer a Sensory Friendly Shopping Hour as part of our Autism Friendly Experience initiative. During this hour, we invite customers to join a more inclusive shopping experience with reduced noise, reduced till sounds and no in-store announcements, while also offering additional assistance and support from in-store Champions who have all received specialised training from AsIAm.

To mark Autism Awareness Day on 2nd April, Edel Ward, Letterkenny Department Manager and Autism Champion reflects on how the Sensory Friendly Shopping Hour has brought the team one step closer to their local community since launching this initiative in partnership with AsIAm, back in November 2021

Since introducing the Sensory Friendly Shopping Hour, we’ve learned that people are so grateful that a company as big as Penneys are thinking about their needs.

Education and awareness amongst our colleagues can make a big difference to people shopping in our stores. Some of our colleagues also have autistic family members and are very proud that we are doing this. One member of the team said they was thrilled to share that we were doing this with his family and brought them all down on a Sunday morning to check out the store and the changes being made.

You never know how small changes can make a big difference to our customers. Not all needs are visible, so being aware of that can help make their shopping more enjoyable. The team also has a much better awareness, and people feel they are making a difference.

As well as training our colleagues, we have some great tools to help people better prepare for their trip to our store. Customers can navigate a typical Penneys store using our Sensory Map – that highlights areas of high sensory input and explore a step-by-step guide of the store experience using a visual guide.

To find out more about our Autism Friendly Shopping Experience, visit www.primark.com/en-ie/autism-friendly.