Competitor for Sportmaster: Auchan to enters in Ukraine Decathlon chain

The first store of the sportswear Decathlon hypermarkets chain may appear in Ukraine at this year end − early next year.

The competition is getting tougher in the sports retail market. One of the world’s largest retailers − Auchan Group − decided to enter Ukraine the Decathlon chain. Three sources told LIGA.net about it: the SC director, the real estate consultant and the trading chain head. It is planned that the first retailer object will open at this year end − early next year in the SC “Retail Park Petrovka”. Decathlon will compete with the chain Sportmaster and Intersport, which is developing by the Epicenter franchise. Getting a comment on the development manager Decathlon Frank Jordan  was failed: he did not answer the letter and did not answer the phone.

Auchan Group representatives spoke about the supermarkets Decathlon opening for several years, but in 2014 plans to enter the Ukrainian market were postponed. This was due to the political situation and sharp exchange rate fluctuations: it was difficult for retailers to calculate the business outlook. But now the situation has changed. “The final decision was made to open the first stores with ​​about 3,000 sq. m. The first hypermarket will appear in “Retail Park Petrovka”, the second − in the newly built shopping center Immochan (developer unit Auchan Group − ed.) on the street Zdolbunovskaya. The chain also considers other shopping centers, ” − added the consulting company UTG director Eugenia Loktionova. But so far, the agreement with it has not been signed, according to LIGA.net.

There are two large chains now in the sports goods market in Ukraine: Sportmaster and Intersport. “Sportmaster is present in the majority of high-quality retail facilities that are open until 2014, but in the last few years, plans to develop the chain have been frozen”, − says the retail space JLL department head in Ukraine, Ekaterina Vesna. Sportmaster Director Igor Chernov promised to provide comments later.

Decathlon can become a strong player in the local market. Chain sales, which has about 1,200 stores around the world, amounted to $10 billion in 2016, according to a report by the retailer. “Decathlon works in the discounter format, which first of all will start taking customers from the markets,” − says Alexander Lanetsky, RetailNet consulting company managing partner.

In part, this will affect the competition. Evgeniya Loktionova gives an example when the company Inditex (Zara, Pull and Bear) lowered the prices for its collections and competitors had to act in the same way. Some chains closed its stores. It is possible that a similar situation may happen again at this year end, but already in the sports retail segment.

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