Decathlon bets on its compact stores and opens a new City store in Paris

Retail

Decathlon City Montparnasse, Rue de Rennes, Paris. Credits: Decathlon

The sports retailer Decathlon is strengthening its local strategy by opening its ninth Parisian store. The address is integrated into a Boulanger store, a chain specialising in household appliances and multimedia, occupying an entire floor.

Located on Rue de Rennes, in the sixth arrondissement of Paris, the new Decathlon store represents the fourth opening in France since the beginning of the year. It allows the retailer to fulfil one of its objectives: to be less than a 20-minute walk from where its potential customers live, work and travel.

Decathlon City Montparnasse, Rue de Rennes, Paris. Credits: Decathlon

Decathlon City format

The French company describes the City format as a "compact format of Decathlon" (less than 1,000 square metres), designed to be located in shopping streets in city centres. These points of sale specialise in mobility, running, fitness and yoga. To date, there are 11 Decathlon City stores in France, including three in Ile-de-France (Saint-Germain opened in 2018; Batignolles opened in 2019; and Montparnasse opened in August 2025).

According to a survey by IFOP (French Institute of Public Opinion), the urban environment offers considerable advantages for athletes, particularly thanks to the density of infrastructure. In 2020, 37 percent of French people planned to go to the gym more often. In the same year, one in two millennials (born approximately between 1981 and 1996) planned to continue going to the gym or even go more often, compared to 26 percent of 18-34 year olds who already go regularly. In this context, the City format seems to be a winning bet for Decathlon, which intends to meet a growing demand for quick and convenient access to sports equipment in urban areas.

Decathlon City Montparnasse, Rue de Rennes, Paris. Credits: Decathlon

Twenty Decathlon teammates work at the new location, which, according to the sports chain's press release, should be "a real place for sharing and advice". The brand specifies that "each member of the team brings the Decathlon spirit to the heart of the district, embodying the unique blend of human connection and sporting passion that makes the City format so effective".

Grégoire Rousseau, retail director of Boulanger, the store in which the new Decathlon point of sale is located, said: "Boulanger is innovating and partnering with Decathlon to create a hybrid concept, the result of a remodelling of the store's space. This new approach aims to offer an enriched customer experience by creating synergy between two worlds of complementary services and products. This entirely renovated new space has been redesigned as a neighbourhood place, truly local to Parisians, by mixing sport, household appliances and multimedia, to simplify daily life."

In total, the retailer has 39 Decathlon stores in Ile-de-France and 1,817 stores worldwide.

In 2024, the Decathlon group recorded a turnover growth of 5.2 percent compared to 2023. This amounts to 16.2 billion euros.

This article was translated to English using an AI tool.

Decathlon