French sporting goods retailer Decathlon set to open huge Calgary store
A sporting goods retailer based in France will open its first Western Canadian location on Saturday in a sprawling space at Calgary's Southcentre Mall.
The 63,000-square-foot Decathlon store on the second floor of the former Sears space has a 7,000-square-foot automated warehouse serviced by 27 robots, the company said.
Cody Cassie, a field application engineer for Bastion Solutions — the technology firm that set up the automated storage retrieval system in the warehouse — says the robots move around on a large grid, under which bins are stacked on top of each other that store products.
"Robots will drive on top of the grid and basically bring products from storage locations to an operator," he said.
"This system's pretty unique. We have about 5,000 bins and it's storing, I think, about 11,000 SKUs [stock-keeping units] for Decathlon."
The store will serve as the distribution centre for the fulfilment of Decathlon's online orders in Western Canada.
"From the wide range of sports we offer at affordable and fair prices, to in-store activities, to service workshops, to second-hand and eco-designed products, we aim to be a trusted partner for people in Calgary looking for solutions to getting and staying active," said store leader Craig Binch in a release.
The company says the store will have 7,000 products for over 65 sports, from hiking, cycling, winter sports, aquatics and running to horseback riding, fishing, dance and archery.
The store also has a gymnasium, café, co-working space and workshop area for services like bike tuneups, ski fitting and waxing and skate sharpening.
The opening of Decathlon brings Southcentre Mall to 90 per cent occupancy, said general manager Jason Bos.
"We hope Calgarians will enjoy getting to know Decathlon, not only as a sporting goods retailer, but also as a leader in innovation, technology and sustainability," he said in a release.
Decathlon now has 10 locations in Canada.
