As part of its internationalization program, Sonae Group of Portugal has signed a deal with Grupo Numero 1 of Spain to set up two joint ventures for the development of its own SportZone and Worten retail chains in the Canary Islands.
Sonae will have a 51 percent controlling stake in each of the two1 companies, which plan to invest a total of €45 million to set up 14 SportZone stores and 14 Worten stores until 2014. Grupo Numero 1, a real estate development and retail company focused on the Canary Islands, also plans to franchise 14 Zippy stores.
SportZone is the leading sporting goods retailer in Portugal, although it is getting strong competition from Décathlon, which opened six of its 15 stores in the country in the course of 2009. Worten sells electronic appliances and Zippy sells clothing.
SportZone has been expanding strongly in Spain since it entered the country 2008. It has been investing in various areas of the country and recently opened its sixth store in the Madrid region. It now has more than 40,000 square meters of retail space in Spain, nearly half the space it occupies in Portugal. The expansion accelerated in the first half of this year with the opening of seven stores in Spain. SportZone’s total Spanish store count may rise from 21 doors at present to between 25 and 30 by the end of this year, according to conflicting press reports that could not be verified at the time of going to press.
