Decathlon, which currently operates fourteen sports stores in the Netherlands, plans to double the number of stores in the long term. The French group targets both city shops and peripheral stores, evenly distributed.
Increase traffic
Decathlon currently has five Dutch stores in city centres and aims to triple that number. The retailer is to open two stores in Utrecht: one in shopping centre The Wall and one in the inner city. “In some cities we opt for the combination, sometimes we have to choose,” says expansion manager Anneloes van der Meer to RetailTrends. She explains that Decathlon uses a data system to determine the type of store: “For peripheral locations, you only look at how easy people can reach the store by car. In the city centres, you are more concerned with pedestrian traffic.”
According to the Amsterdam-based news site De Westkrant, a second store will be opened in Amsterdam. In addition to the shop at ArenA Boulevard, where the Dutch head office is located as well, a new shop is to be opened in Sloterdijk. In May Decathlon announced it would build a Dutch distribution centre in Tilburg, near the Belgian border.
