French Sports Brand To Expand In China, Focus On Smaller Cities

French sports goods chain Decathlon is set "to triple its Chinese store numbers and make the country its third-largest global market," according to Li Woke. Decathlon China VP Bertrand Tison said that the firm is targeting 150 stores on the Chinese mainland by the end of '15. Most will be planned in second- or third-tier cities. Tison: "Around a third of our China sales come from first-tier city stores, but in the future, smaller cities will be the drivers of our growth." E-commerce portal xijie.com CEO Guo Hongchi said, "Around 90% of Decathlon items are self-branded. Many of its products are between a third and a quarter the price of international counterparts, but with almost the same quality." Its price-quality ratio makes it "very competitive in smaller Chinese cities" (CHINA DAILY, 10/19).