Sprinter has opened a big store – on the former premises of an IKEA – that it hopes will serve as a watershed, separating its past from its future, according to Diffusion Sport and other sources in Spain. Located at the Alcora Plaza de Alcorcón shopping center in Madrid, the store occupies some 3,000 sqm between the sales floor, storerooms and offices; employs a staff of 65; and carries products from more than 120 brands. It was designed by the firm of Dalziel & Pow, London, and represents an investment of about €4 million.
The store is divided into several departments and presents a number of “experiential” features. The Sports Lab provides stride analysis by Podoactiva; the Runners Bar has interactive screens for automated fetching of chosen shoe sizes from the storeroom; the Custom Shop offers ways to personalize any T-shirt and, in time, any item whatsoever. To keep up with goings-on, employees receive electronic notifications throughout the day.
There is a rental service for sporting goods that will be of peculiar interest to pádel players, who may rent their racquets or else borrow for days on end, free of charge, a racquet they might buy. Tennis players can get their racquets restrung.
There is a 30-meter Running Track with LEDs that, for competitive fun, will measure and record customers’ speeds as they try out new sneakers. There is also an Estadio (Stadium) for football and a Pista (Court) for tennis and pádel. Finally, there is a general-purpose Studio with a monthly schedule of changing activities, some of them exclusive to members of the Sprinter Club.
Sprinter’s director of retail, César Cuadrillero, has described the store’s location as “one of the best retail parks in Spain.” The idea, he went on to say, is to mark a before and after for the company’s business. The store is “the new model that entails an evolution in every way.”
The upper floor, meanwhile, contains, in addition, the first physical store to be opened by Deporvillage, another banner within the Iberian Sports Retail Group. The 1,200 sqm in question are devoted to cycling, with some 191 bicycle models on display and another 800 or so in stock. There is a repair shop as well as a “bikefit” service for biomechanical analysis and a “beacon de tech” for customer product testing. This store represents a separate investment of about €1.5 million.
According to Diffusion Sport, a second Deporvillage store is in the works and will be located in Granada, whose surrounding autonomous community, Andalucía, ranks third in visits to the e-tail site. According to co-CEO Amparo Cuerda, the company will continue to emphasize e-commerce, with specialties in cycling, running, trail and outdoor sports, but this year it is taking an omnichannel and international turn with an eye toward the customer experience.
