The retailer arrived in Romania in 2009 and has since developed constantly, witnessing fast-paced growth until last year, the first year of pandemic. Its sales shrank 2% to RON948 million in 2020, as a result of the stores, as well as gyms, being closed during the lockdown and having to comply operational restrictions for a while after that.
The main issue this year is getting the stores restocked, which has been the case since the onset of the pandemic.
Decathlon’s Romanian operations had a very good first half, its officials said, so the growth estimate of 20% remains.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)