New Delhi: French sports retailer Decathlon plans to open up to 60 outlets in India over five years, expecting it to be among the company's top five of its global markets in terms of stores. "India is a priority country. We dream to open 100 stores in India in five years... But, we feel (opening) 50-60 stores in possible," Decathlon Sports India CEO Steve Dykes said.
The company, which currently has 12 operational stores, will open 8 more stores this year. All the stores are company owned and managed. Bullish on the Indian market, he said: "There is a latent demand for sports goods retailing. We expect India to be amongst top five markets for us in terms of stores." At present, France, Spain, Italy and China are its top global markets. Decathlon had received approval for 100 per cent FDI in single brand retail in February last year.
The company has committed Rs 700 crore investment in the country. "We do not share exact investment details but we will surpass Rs 700 crore investment in India. We will also look at online retailing once FDI in e-commerce is allowed," Dykes said. After focusing on B2B initially, the company has started targeting B2C stores in the last 12 months in India by building major presence in the southern region.
"Now we want to expand in the North and West too by replicating what we have learnt from South. There could be about 20-30 stores in North in five years," Dykes said, adding the first store in East India could be opened in the next 12 months. Decathlon is euro 7 billion company with more than 700 stores across 18 countries.
