French sports chain Decathlon to open in Croatia

The premier sporting goods chain, Decathlon, will be opening its first store in Croatia this September. The chain is owned by Oxylane, an international group of sports stores with locations around the world. The first Croatian store, located in Zagreb’s Kings Cross Jankomir shopping center, is set to be 3,500 sq m large, according to construction plans. Building started this summer and should be finished by September.

Decathlon first opened in Lille, France in 1976. Since then it has grown into an international sporting goods chain with over 730 stores located across the globe. The chain is still most popular in France, which has the largest number of stores, followed by Spain and Italy.

This will not be the chain’s first store in Central and Eastern Europe. The first store in Poland opened in 2001. Today, there are more than 30 stores in Poland, and there are several stores across Russia, Romania, and Hungary. Besides the physical outlet stores, Decathlon also has a series of online stores where customers can place orders.

The Decathlon Group is not just chain stores, but also manufactures and distributes its own lines of sporting equipment. In total, the company produces up to 10 thousand different products. The stores carry both international brands and local specialist brands. Decathlon stores also offer a repair service for equipment.