Deporvillage continues its expansion with physical stores and plans to open in Catalunya

The Catalan Deporvillage abandoned the label of exclusively online store at the end of April when it opened its first physical establishment in Alcorcón. A few months later, it has just opened its second physical store in Granada "after the success" of the one in Madrid and is already planning a third in Catalunya, without specifying in which area it will be or when its opening is expected.

The company, which sells more than 140,000 items worldwide and has 2.5 million online customers, assures that its future "lies in continuing to bet on the opening of physical stores to keep exploring formats that allow them to connect the online world with the physical one." This is defended by its co-CEO, Amparo Cuerda, who points out that, with each new opening, they hope to continue gaining proximity with customers and fostering the in-person experience. "Omnichannel is a strategy that is really working well for us, as shown by the figures that confirm the increase in bicycle sales, for example, in the click and collect format ---online purchase and pick-up in physical store--- around the location of our first store," explains Cuerda.

After a record year in 2020 thanks to the pandemic, the company based in Manresa was acquired in mid-2021 by the British multinational JD Sports, one of the largest global groups of chains specialized in the sale of all kinds of sports equipment. JD Sports acquired 80% of the capital of the Catalan company for 140 million euros through Iberian Sports Retail Group (ISRG), a joint venture with the Portuguese group Sonae that also includes the brands Sprinter and Sport Zone. Deporvillage was founded in 2010 by Xavier Pladellorens and Ángel Corcuera, entrepreneurs who retain 20% of the company's capital.

In this new stage with JD Sports, Deporvillage has undertaken a physical expansion plan that it plans to execute throughout this year and the next, according to company sources. In the case of the first store, Madrid was chosen because of the volume of traffic and online purchases coming from the Spanish capital, with 50% more visitors compared to Barcelona in the first months of 2023.

That has been the same criterion for the opening in Pulianas, on the outskirts of Granada, with Andalucía representing the third most important region in terms of volume of visitors to its online store. In addition, the sporting tradition in Granada in cycling, running, and mountain sports, key sports for Deporvillage, has been highlighted.

The store in Alcorcón, with an investment of one and a half million euros, has a total area of 1,200 square meters specialized in cycling. With 1,000 items for sale, almost 200 bicycles are on display, combined with specialized services such as a workshop for tuning, biomechanical position study services on the bicycle to achieve optimal performance, and a space to try out new roller proposals and other technologies. In addition, next to the Deporvillage store, one of the largest Sprinter establishments to date was opened.

In the case of the Granada store, it is not specialized in cycling and its opening has been independent from other brands of the group. The new center has an area of more than 750 square meters, with an urban clothing corner for athletes and products from the areas in which Deporvillage is a specialist. Despite not specializing in cycling, as in Alcorcón, biomechanical position study services and a workshop for tuning will be offered, as well as 100 bicycle items. The investment involved in its opening has not been disclosed, but it has been confirmed that 11 workers have been hired.