<P> Primark owns over 350 stores . The largest Primark store is located on Market Street, Manchester, England, occupying 155,000 sq ft (14,400 m) of retail space across three floors . The company expanded rapidly in the UK in the mid-2000s . In 2005, they bought the Littlewoods retail stores for £ 409m, retaining 40 of the 119 stores and selling the rest . In May 2006, the first Primark store outside Ireland and the United Kingdom opened in Madrid, Spain . After 10 years of constructing a chain around 40 stores in Spain, Primark opened another store in Madrid in October 2015, the second biggest in the chain . In December 2008, Primark opened in the Netherlands, followed by Portugal, Germany and Belgium in 2009 . Primark opened its first store in Austria on 27 September 2012 in Innsbruck . It expanded to France in 2013, in Marseille . The first Italian store opened in 2014 . In 2015, Primark opened its first United States store in Downtown Crossing, Boston, in the location that was once the flagship store of Filene's, later NYC, Philly, and Danbury, </P> <P> Primark operates stores in the following countries: </P> <Table> <Tr> <Th> Country </Th> <Th> hide Number of stores </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> United Kingdom </Td> <Td> 186 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Spain </Td> <Td> 44 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Ireland </Td> <Td> 37 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Germany </Td> <Td> 26 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Netherlands </Td> <Td> 18 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> France </Td> <Td> 13 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Portugal </Td> <Td> 10 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> United States </Td> <Td> 9 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Austria </Td> <Td> 5 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Belgium </Td> <Td> 5 </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Italy </Td> <Td> </Td> </Tr> <Tr> <Td> Total </Td> <Td> 357 </Td> </Tr> </Table> <Tr> <Th> Country </Th> <Th> hide Number of stores </Th> </Tr>

How many primark stores are in the uk