Global Sporting Retailer, Decathlon, opens 1st store at Battaramulla to make sports accessible for the many in Sri Lanka
Opening up a whole new world of sports innovation for Sri Lanka, Decathlon Sri Lanka has launched its first store at Battaramulla on 13th October 2018, located at 260/1, Pannipitiya Road, Battaramulla, prominently located beside the Buddhadasa ground. Demonstrating its passion for sports, Decathlon’s store offers a unique sport store concept that showcases 2500 products catering to 50 sports, coupled with a distinctive and personalised customer service. The store is spread across 1200 m2 space dedicated for sports to allow shoppers and sports lovers to browse the store at leisure. The store caters to all levels of sports enthusiasts, from beginners to advanced. Decathlon not only provides quality sports gear, but also offers a 500 m2 free access playground for football & multisports; 4 indoor experience zones (for football, fitness, cycling and trekking); along with 50 sport practices under the same roof and 2500 products – a true paradise for sports lovers. The store will be open from 9 am to 9 pm and offers spacious parking for 100 cars.
Expressing his delight at the launch of Decathlon’s first store, Etienne Mafart, Country Leader of Decathlon Sri Lanka said, “Decathlon is committed to converting people to adopt healthy lifestyles through fitness and sports. We are all delighted sportspeople who have turned our passion into our job, which is to make sport accessible for many. For four decades now, Decathlon’s teams have accompanied, facilitated – and even revolutionized – the practice of athletes around the world. At Decathlon, innovation holds a primordial place both in our stores and in our products. Behind each product, there is an idea, an expectation, an intuition…. emanating from an athlete, a sport user or a Decathlon teammate. We see a similar passion for sports amongst Sri Lankans and we hope Decathlon inspires them even more to pursue sports. We are thrilled to make Decathlon a part of the city’s sport ecosystem. We are proud to welcome Sri Lanka into Decathlon’s network of 45 countries and 1414 stores.”
Decathlon already has a decade-long footprint in Sri Lanka, where it has based one of its main manufacturing facilities. After 10 years in Sri Lanka, Decathlon will be manufacturing 45 million products in 2018 with the involvement of its industrial partners. Its factory has 80 associates engaged in production compliance, quality and service. In Sri Lanka, 20 000 employees work for Decathlon, from 15 suppliers in 18 factories. The company has exported 2600 containers globally in 2018.
Vatsal Pant, Store Leader, said, “The Decathlon store boasts a team of 40 passionate sports lovers engaged in a variety of sports who are truly dedicated to make sports accessible for all in Sri Lanka. Together we will inspire Sri Lankans to keep playing sport with a smile!”
Sensitive of giving back to society, Decathlon is associated with a host of sustainability initiatives globally. In Sri Lanka, the company is focusing on revealing the potential of young women in Sri Lanka. Commenting on Decathlon’s commitment, Suranjani Wickremeratne, Founder Member of Tarana Foundation added, “Tarana Foundaion is happy to collaborate with Decathlon Sri Lanka on their CSR Project to provide young girls in children’s homes an opportunity to harness and build their personality through an effective sports program. This will enable these young girls to raise the bar and will strongly support pursuing their life ambitions.”
Decathlon was established in Englos, France, in 1976 and reported a turnover of 11 billion€ as at end 2017. It is the largest sporting goods retailer in the world.
