New Decathlon store opens in Budapest

Decathlon, seller of sporting goods, has announced that they will be opening a completely new store on downtown Nyugati which will sit close to the Western railway station. Since first opening in France, Decathlon has enjoyed tremendous growth over the years and this new store marks the 18th in Hungary.

With this new store, Decathlon hopes that it can bring in a whole new range of customers despite being their fifth in the capital already. In total, the sporting goods company has plans to open another three stores this year. With one in Tatbanya, another in Sopron, and the last in Budapest, Decathlon clearly see Hungary as a market that needs to be utilised. Additionally, they are also in the planning phase of opening new outlets in a number of county towns next year.

However, back to the present day and this new ‘digital’ store boasts floor space of around 1,700 square meters and some of the heavier and larger products will only be available to order online in the store. With the proportion of online sales now reaching 3%, Decathlon is looking to take advantage of this and the Nyugati operation could open the door to many other digital services if it performs well.

Just last year, Decathlon posted a profit of HUF 1.4 billion before tax - an increase of 26% compared to the year before. Furthermore, they now employ over 1,300 people in Hungary alone.