Decathlon to open branch at The Wall in Utrecht

By

Shomara Roosblad

Published
Aug 28, 2018

French sports retailer Decathlon announced today that it will be opening a 4,600-square-metre branch at the Utrecht shopping and entertainment center The Wall.

The store will be the first apparel retailer at The Wall, which currently houses home, electronics and toy retailers as well as food and entertainment concepts. The upcoming shop will be the retailer’s 15th branch in the Netherlands and plans to open its doors later this year.

Decathlon at The Wall Utrecht will be offering a wide range of sportswear, sports gear, equipment and other sports and outdoor-related products. In addition, the retailer will set up partnerships with local sport clubs and educational institutions to organize sport events.

Nick van de Sanden, acquisition and development manager at Decathlon, said: “It is our mission to make sport accessible to as many people as possible. The excellent accessibility and available parking were reasons for us to settle at The Wall.”

Barbara Ploeger, concept manager real estate at Propertize, owner of The Wall, added: “This world-renowned sports retailer has been working for decades to make sports accessible, and with that, it focuses on an active lifestyle. That mission fits in perfectly with the concept of The Wall Moves.” The Wall Moves is a concept of The Wall that offers space for new entertainment concepts such as a roller disco in addition to its regular stores.

Owner Propertize said that the transaction of Decathlon marks another successful step in the re-development and upgrade of the shopping center, which is situated along the A2 motorway, one of the busiest highways in the Netherlands. The road connects the city of Amsterdam in the West with the Belgian border in the South.

With the arrival of Decathlon later this year, more than 12,000 square metres of the The Wall have been leased in 2018. In the summer, the largest roller disco in the Netherlands, Rocking Rollerz, settled at The Wall. Earlier this year, Play-In, the largest indoor play area in the Netherlands, opened its doors.

The Wall Utrecht was developed between 2008 and 2010 and is one of the longest buildings in the Netherlands with a length of more than 800 metres.

French sports retailer Decathlon is active in 43 countries with more than 1,400 stores, employing some 80,000 people.