Newsletter 30 – Decathlon, the french multinational that captivates the hearts of Cali athletes

The French company Decathlon, dedicated for more than 40 years to the promotion of sport, and with presence in 54 countries around the world, opened its doors in Cali last May 24, from where they hope to captivate the hearts of thousands of amateur and professional athletes, offering a varied and innovative range of products and inputs for various practices and activities.

The new store in Cali is located in Éxito La Flora. It has 3,000 square meters with inputs for the practice of more than 70 sports, both for beginners and for athletes of a medium and high level of performance. It is a warehouse where users can live different shopping experience, finding test areas and showrooms, thus interacting with the products.

Ángela Zamorano, director of Decathlon La Flora Cali, explains that the arrival of this sport retail ‘giant’ in Cali is the result of the sport’s recognition enjoyed by the city, which is also the American Capital of Sport. “The city is betting on the growth of initiatives that promote the practice of different sports disciplines and the improvement of scenarios for their practice,” Zamorano points out.

The arrival of this type of project contributes to the generation of employment for the region. “We have a team of 57 collaborators, most of them from Cali, passionate about the sport, who will be able to advise our users in the best way, forming a relationship from athlete to athlete. In addition, during the project we have generated approximately 150 indirect jobs”, adds the Director of Decathlon La Flora.

In addition, athletes of all levels are involved in the chain of product design, putting their own experiences at the service of new elements that meet the needs of each of the practices. On average, they create 2,800 new products each year worldwide.

Users will also be able to shop online from the Decathlon website (https://www.decathlon.com.co/es/), through the “click and collect” concept. In this way, users will be able to shop through this portal and pick up at the warehouse at no additional cost. In addition, they will soon enable the home delivery service to the entire Valle del Cauca.

As part of its expansion plan, Decathlon continues to conquer Colombians. With its opening in Cali, it now has five stores nationwide. It is also present in Bogotá, Barranquilla, Medellín, and Cali.

Its arrival in the region has been accompanied by Invest Pacific, the Investment Promotion Agency in the Colombian Pacific, an entity that is responsible for guiding foreign companies, and also nationals located in other cities of the country, to make their best decision for their growth plans. Similarly, ProColombia, the national entity in charge of promoting tourism, foreign investment, exports, as well as the country’s image.

“We are very pleased to accompany Decathlon’s arrival in our city. It is a multinational that ratifies the right investment climate that has the entire region, where institutional leadership and creative potential have been key factors to continue attracting the confidence of global players. Projects such as these contribute to the generation of employment, the strengthening of productivity and the economic, sports and social development of Valle del Cauca”, highlights Alejandro Ossa, Executive Director of Invest Pacific.

By 2019, Invest Pacific’s goal is to attract 26 foreign direct and national investment projects that will generate around US$183 million and 1,500 jobs. So far in 2019, there are already 10 investment projects in the process of establishment in the region, which belong to the sectors of retail, food and beverages, IT & Software, manufacturing, logistics, and agriculture.