The giant French-based sporting goods retailer's expansion into the Spanish-speaking part of Latin America is starting with the establishment of a subsidiary in Mexico. Decathlon already has a subsidiary in Brazil, where the number of its stores grew by three to 18 in the past year under the management of Dominique Thomas, former international director of the banner. An additional store has been added in Brazil since the beginning of 2015.
Eric Fortune, a Frenchman who has worked for Decathlon for 20 years in various roles, including that of store manager, has been appointed country manager for Mexico. Without disclosing the location of its first Mexican store or the timing of its opening, Decathlon says it wanted to move into the country because it has the second-highest population in the Americas and a high rate of economic growth. As less than half of the people practice or have access to sport, Decathlon wants to make sport more accessible to them, especially through its low prices, as it has done in Spain and other countries.
The Latin American project is being steered out of Spain, the company's second-largest market after France and China. Decathlon Spain is going to help the new Mexican subsidiary in the areas of operations, human resources and communication, but Decathlon Mexico will soon have its own team.
The project will be led by Michel D'Humière, a veteran of the group who has successfully run its Spanish subsidiary since 1994, building it up into the largest sporting goods retailer in the country, with 128 stores at the end of 2014. He started his career at Decathlon in 1981 by managing a store in Paris.
The Spanish subsidiary will be led by a Spaniard, Javier López, who already worked there in logistics. In the last three years, he had the difficult task of running Decathlon's German subsidiary, dealing with strong competitors and the lobbies of independent retailers. The company will set a milestone in Germany on June 19 by opening a 6,000-square-meter store, its 24th store in the country, on the centrally located Alexanderplatz in Berlin.
Stéphane Montini, a 22-year French veteran of Decathlon, is taking over López' management role in Germany. After many years in France, Montini led a market test for Decathlon in South Korea, the only country where Intersport has failed to establish itself. We could not determine whether Decathlon has any immediate plans there.
