Decathlon entered Romania in 2009 and its stores, managed by Romautosport company, kept the same growth pace as last year, when the retailer posted RON310 million sales. If expansion continues as budgeted, Decathlon might go beyond RON400 million this year, ten times more than in its first year in business in Romania.
Decathlon is a brand of the French Mulliez family, which also owns Auchan hypermarket chain, and currently numbers 15 stores, the last of which opened in Oradea in October.
The retailer is also working with Mega Image on a 3,900 square meter store that may become its crown jewel in Romania. The two companies developed a project together across the street from the Ikea store and the Baneasa Shopping City, which market sources say should be ready this month in time for the holiday shopping spree.
The store in the north of Bucharest would be Decathlon’s fourth in the city. Decathlon’s stores take up 1,000 to 5,000 square meters and sell products for up to 90 sports. The retailer opened two stores in Targu-Mures and Oradea this year. Expansion helped it make profit in the past two years, so Romautosport SRL posted RON4.4 million net profit in the first half, more than four times the profit in the same time of 2014.
Decathlon’s rivals on a market ZF puts at RON1.8 billion to RON2.2 billion are specialist retailers Intersport and Hervis, hypermarket chains and mono-brand and multi-brand stores like Adidas and Nike. Other competitors are Spain’s’ Decimas, Serbia’s Sportivision and Czech Republic’s Sportisimo. (EUR1=RON4.4460)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)