GO ASIA TRAIL 
The day after XTERRA TAIWAN, I traveled to Kaohsiung, Taiwan's second largest city, to visit Decathlon's Fengshan branch.
About Decathlon
Decathlon is a general sporting goods store headquartered in France. Decathlon is a sporting goods store that does not carry national brands such as Nike, Adidas, and Asics, but rather its own private brand products. Decathlon calls its private brands "passion brands. For products related to trail runners, the following two brands are available. Other Passion Brands are listed here.
The company has expanded its business mainly in Europe, and in recent years has also expanded into Asia, such as China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Thailand. In Japan, they operate a small store ( Decathlon Lab ) in front of Utsubo Park in Osaka and an online store, but they do not carry all the products they carry globally. (This may be a front-runner for a full-fledged entry into the market in the future.)
Decathlon in Taiwan
Decathlon has a full-fledged presence in Taiwan, where we visited, with 12 stores in Taipei, Taichung, Kaohsiung, etc. At XTERRA TAIWAN, we often saw runners wearing clothing and trail sacks from this brand.
Twelve stores in the country is proof that they are well established in Taiwan. When I actually walked into Decathlon's Taiwan store, it was incredibly busy (I visited the store on a Sunday around 2pm). And the sales floor space is huge. It is as large as a home improvement center.
Low prices due to Passion brand (own brand)
The greatest feature of Decathlon is its "low price! It is positioned like Top Value in Aeon, but with a much lower price. It is positioned like IKEA in the sports world. First of all, a trail sack. It costs 4,600 Japanese yen. If you buy a Salomon, Ultimate Direction, or UltrAspire sack, you will pay more than 20,000 yen, which is more than four times the price.
You may think that the price is low, so the features are not so great, but they are well thought out. The video of the product description of this zack (kalenji sac trail 10l) will convince you of this. Note that the pocket where I put my phone in the video is waterproof. I bought this sack back because I thought it was comfortable on my back and very easy to use.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5VBnYzVc2oI
The other thing is trail shoes. They cost about 7,400 Japanese yen. I tried them on, but they were too thin and didn't fit my feet, as they are made in France. My feet are very wide, 4E.
Then there are 250 lumens running. These are about 4,600 yen. Considering it is a headlight, honestly, it would probably be cheaper to buy Gentos from Amazon in Japan. But this is not a headlight.
In fact, it is not a light to be attached to the head, but to the torso. It can be worn alone on the torso or attached to a trail sack. Headlamps are getting higher and higher lumens year by year, but the batteries are getting heavier and heavier, which sometimes makes it stressful to wear it on your head. Also, by attaching it to the torso, it can be used in foggy conditions. I think it would be a good weapon in Hong Kong races where there is a lot of fog. It can also be used while recharging with a mobile battery, so it can be used on ultra trails. The beam range is a bit short at 20m, so I felt it could be used more as an auxiliary light.
There are products that are not merely inexpensive, but also offer a twist from a perspective not found in national brands. This is probably the reason why Decathlon is supported mainly in Europe, the U.S., and Asia. The advertisement at the entrance of the store looks like IKEA.
The store had English-speaking staff, so I was able to get the details handled in English. Credit cards are of course accepted.
If you are ever in Taiwan, be sure to stop by Decathlon. If you are a trail runner, you will be thrilled. You will learn a lot about what other countries have to offer. See you soon!