Abstract
The French sports article market is doing well, with good opportunities in the medium term. However it is a very competitive market and newcomers do not hesitate to implement aggressive strategies. In 2003, the French sports article market was the most important in the whole of Europe with a global turnover of 8.4 billion euros. There are 3800 stores specialised in sports and leisure articles in France: in 2003, their turnover amounted to 5.8 billion euros. The first five specialised stores (Décathlon, Intersport, Go Sport, Sport 2000, et Techniciens du Sport) alone make up for more than 80% of this turnover. As seen in the graph, the sales of sports article grew by 4.2% in 2003 while the growth was quite limited at the end of the nineties. Large distributors such as Décathlon, Go Sport, Intersport, and Sport 2000 largely contributed to this phenomenon since their average turnover grew by 8.3% the same year. Small retailers: They offer small ranges of products but at higher prices. The small retailers represented 2.9% of the market share in 2000 and they had an estimated turnover of 137 million €. The typical stores in this category are: Les Techniciens du Sport, Running Conseil, and all the specialists of cycles.
