Sport for all, all for sport
SEEING HOW the sports market is doing well in the country and in line with its thrust of bringing sports to more people, French sports retailer Decathlon recently opened its pilot store in the country.
Located at the 2F Bridgeway Parking side of Festival Mall Alabang, the 3,000-square meter store, which used to house the upper part of a popular supermarket chain, boasts of sporting equipment and gear for over 70 sports.
Aside from popular sports such basketball, football, volleyball, and running, the Manila store of Decathlon, which is the 16th to open in Southeast Asia, also has products for hiking, rollerblading, dance, and fishing, among others.
According to Decathlon Chief Executive Officer Hans Iff, the Philippine market has been an area they wanted to tap for years now due to its vibrant sports and active lifestyle scene and growing middle class.
“In line with Decathlon’s push to bring sports to many people, we try to go to emerging markets. And in the Philippines all the figures are suitable for Decathlon to enter into. We believe the timing is just right for us to be here. Based on studies, the country’s gross domestic product will continue to grow fuelled by the middle class who are becoming more wellness-conscious. And we believe that they can certainly use our products,” said Mr. Iff in an interview with BusinessWorld during the press launch for Decathlon last week.
“The second reason we are now here is we produce a lot of our products in Asia and it makes a lot of sense as far as the supply chain goes to sell what we produce here,” he added.
The Decathlon official went on to say that the location of their pilot store is also strategic and in tune with what they are as a brand.
“The location is strategic as we found the Alabang area very conducive to what we want to achieve. Foot traffic is good here and there is a large community of middle class here. If we opened in a big mall in the middle of the city, say Makati, the rent is going to be high and we may need to raise our prices which will be against what we want to happen which is to sell our products for affordable prices,” Mr. Iff said.
EXPERIENTIAL AND EXPERT ADVICE
Apart for the extensive range of sporting equipment and gear at affordable prices, the Decathlon store in Alabang enhances the customers’ brand experience by allowing them to “touch, feel and see” the quality of its products.
The store has a basketball court and sports playground outside while indoors it has a tennis and badminton court, an area for skateboards and rollerblades, and an area for biking.
Such a setup, Mr. Iff said, is for customers to discover for themselves if the products they are buying suit them.
Another aspect of the store is the staff, who, Mr. Iff said, are very knowledgeable about the products they sell.
Submitting to the concept of “sports leaders,” Decathlon hires staff who know the sports they will be put in and are very passionate about it.
“We believe that the best way to serve people... who want to be passionate about a certain sport is to be passionate ourselves. That’s why when someone applies to be a ‘sports leader,’ it’s required for them to be knowledgeable about, and to enjoy, the sport,” Mr. Iff said.
On the part of the Filinvest group, the addition of Decathlon to its roster of retailers is very welcome.
“Decathlon certainly enhances what we want to happen for Festival Mall which is to cater to the community across all sectors. So when the opportunity came for them to come on board we immediately saw a fit,” said Rose A. Nuqui, vice- president and Group head for Marketing, Exhibits & Conventions for Filinvest, in a separate interview.
With the sports industry in the country expected to continue to grow, Mr. Iff said they plan to open more stores in the future.
“The sports market in the country is going to boom. According to a McKinsey report, the sports industry in the Philippines is projected to multiply four times in the next 20 years and we want to be part of that. For now, our focus is Metro Manila but we are planning to open more stores, branching out later to areas like Cebu and Davao,” Mr. Iff said.