Decathlon is open for new partnerships with other retailers anywhere, says a spokesman for the company, pointing out that such initiatives are taken by its managers at the national level. After working with some mass market retaiers in France, Belgium and the U.S., it has announced that it will start selling its private brands in the more specialized Fnac stores in Switzerland, where it operates through a joint venture with the Maus Frères group.
Fnac, a French-based retailer specializing in books, music, other entertainment and electronics, started to offer sporting goods and other innovative products in France by hosting other retailers on its marketplace four years ago. It has not worked with Decathlon until now, but Decathlon recently started to work with more generic internet marketplaces in Russia and other countries. It will now sell bicycles and other urban mobility products such as scooters in Fnac’s physical stores in Switzerland.
Decathlon currently operates 23 stores in Switzerland, where it claims to be a regular supplier for more than 10 percent of all the participants in sports activities. Fnac has nine stores in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. Decathlon also plans to open shop-in-shops in other partner stores and is contemplating franchised stores under its banner in the Swiss market. Reportedly, Fnac aims to expand the range of products it offers from Decathlon’s private brands through its online store in the future.
In a press statement, Adrien Lagache, chief business development officer of Decathlon Schweiz, says that this is the first step in a new strategy to position itself as a “first-class B2B partner in the sports sector.” The strategy may be new for Switzerland, but not for the rest of the world, says Decathlon’s international spokesman, recalling that the French retailer has been working with hypermarket and supermarket chains such as Auchan and Franprix in France, Delhaize in Belgium and Walmart in the U.S.
