I drove by one of these stores-and the chain is going out of business (everything 70% off). So, what went wrong? DECATHLON was a very large chain-sort of like a “Hypermart” for sporting goods. They carried their own brand (Quechua), but also had the standard brands (Nike, Adidas, etc.). The stuff they carried seemed of good quality. So why the disaster? Some thoughts;
-competition is too tough-Americans are very price-conscious-perhaps the French are not?
-too much competition-perhaps they did not advertise enough?
-undercapitalized?
One thing I did notice: they had price tags with European sizes (American in small print)-maybe American shoppers were confused by this? Also, the tags carried price tags with prices in French Francs.Does this mean the stock was years old? (the euro replaced the franc a few years ago).
The French seem to have a tough time doing business in the USA-is this a general problem for them?