He’s about to open an enormous €13m flagship superstore - his company’s first in Ireland. But Bastien Grandgeorge has an odd message for Decathlon’s potential customers. "Don’t rush to the store this weekend," he says.
French sports retail giant Decathlon has been planning this grand entry into the Irish bricks and mortar retail market for years.
On two previous occasions it had almost taken the decision to expand into Ireland, including just before the financial crisis hit in 2008, only to axe those plans due to external reasons.
But this time a site was bought, an enormous eco-friendly store was built and stocked, staff had been hired and preparations put in place for a grand opening three months ago, right before the Covid-19