Located at Cestas near Bordeaux, Décathlon’s new Geologic Village is the new design, development and purchasing center for products related to fishing, hunting and archery, representing an investment of €10 million. The 6,000-square-meter location hosts a team of more than 60 people, most of whom come from the retailer’s central campus near Lille, and their number is set to double by 2014. It includes a dedicated 3,5000-sqm. store with multiple testing facilities and a vast park with a lake to try out private label products related to these sports.
Geologic was the previous label used by Décathlon for a broader product range that also included horse riding, now marketed under the name Fouganza and still housed in Lille. Its own fishing tackle and hunting products will bear the names Caperlan and Solognac, respectively, once their new collections hit the company’s stores early next year. Décathlon has yet to decide on a specific brand name for archery.
Private label items represent about 50 percent of Décathlon’s business in these product categories, and the company hopes that the development of new and innovative products will help to raise this ratio. The company has already decentralized the product development and brand management functions for other private labels in the areas of hiking/trekking, water sports and cycling, placing them in regions of France where the related sports are practiced the most.
Meanwhile Décathlon has decided to close its first Décat store, which it had opened in 2004 in the main square of Lille to showcase its offerings in the sports fashion segment. With 1,100 sqm. on three floors, the store was just too big and the rent was too high. Its place will be taken over by a bank after its shutdown at the end of the year. The company’s second Décat in Bordeaux has only 500 sqm. of selling space and is doing well instead.
