French retailer Decathlon opens third store in Bucharest with EUR 2.3 mln

French sports retailer Decathlon opened a new store in Bucharest following an investment of EUR 2.3 million, the sixth unit in Romania. The store is located on Theodor Pallady boulevard and covers 3,000 sqm. The company invested EUR 1.5 million in the stock of merchandise and EUR 800,000 in arranging the unit, said Fabrice Betchu, general manager of Decathlon in Romania. He added that the company plans to open other Decathlon stores in Romania. Decathlon currently has stores in Bucharest, Cluj-Napoca, Brasov and Iasi. Decathlon produces about 1.1 million sporting goods in Timisoara, shoes in Reghin, Brasov, Alba and other locations, and bikes in Resita. “We want to produce more, but in Romania not much hasn't been invested in technology lately”, said the manager of the company’s expansion, Ruxandra Bese. Decathlon is a French retailer established in 1976, that has a network of over 550 stores in 17 states. Irina Popescu, irina.popescu@romania-insider.com