Decathlon is a French sporting goods retailer. With over 1697 stores in 60 countries and regions (2020), it is the largest sporting goods retailer in the world.
The company manages the research, design, production, logistics and distribution of its products in house; partners with global suppliers; and markets their own brands directly to consumers in Decathlon-branded big-box stores.
Founded by Michel Leclercq in 1976, Decathlon started with a store in Lille, France. Its holding company was formerly known as Oxylane.
The company expanded abroad a decade later: to Germany in 1986, Spain in 1992, Italy in 1993 Belgium in 1997, Portugal, the United Kingdom in 1999, Brazil in 2001, China in 2003, India in 2009, Turkey and Czech Republic in 2010, Taiwan in 2012, Hong Kong in 2013, Malaysia and Singapore in 2016, South Africa, Philippines and Indonesia in 2017 in South Korea and Australia in 2018, and Canada in 2019. The company employs more than 87,000 staff from 80 different nationalities.
The retailer stocks a wide range of sporting goods, from tennis rackets to advanced scuba diving equipment, usually in large, big-box superstores averaging 4,000m2 in size. Decathlon Group markets its products under more than 20 brands. Its research and development facilities are located across France, where the company develops its product designs, registering up to 40 patents per year.
In January 2022, Decathlon named Ingka group’s chief digital officer, Barbara Martin Coppola, as its new global chief executive officer.
