Décathlon to Distribute Its Brands Through Auchan

VILLENEUVE D'ASCQ, France (November 15) - Décathlon has reorganized its store format around its 7 home brands called '7 Worlds', responsible for 52.6% of its net sales in 2001. These 7 brands - among which Décathlon Cycle - will be for sale at a Auchan hypermarket soon. "French chain Auchan is to put some Decathlon brands for sale at its outdoor recreation department as a test outside France, where no Decathlon store is situated", commented Décathlon spokesman Frederic Croccel to Bike Europe. He declined to disclose the concerned country. However, this does not occur in Norway, where local sporting goods chain XXL sells the Décathlon brands. A better bet is Russia, where Auchan recently opened a 16,000 m² discount superstore in the Moscow capital region. Auchan is partly controlled by the Leclerc family, whose member Michel founded Décathlon in 1976. Meanwhile the restructuring and renovation of the new formula of Décathlon's 320 outlets worldwide is in full swing. A multilingual management team has been appointed to support the ambitious expansions of the second biggest sporting goods retailer in the world. Décathlon plans to open 19 new stores in 2003. (FN)