GO ASIA TRAIL 
I have been a Decathlon Ambassador for about three years since January 2020, but I chose to end my Ambassador contract this term without renewing it.
Immediately after I signed the contract, the new coronavirus began to spread, and although I was able to work under various restrictions, such as voluntary restraint and travel restrictions, I personally believe that I was able to play a certain role and achieve certain results. I also believe that being able to gain valuable experience as an ambassador for a sports brand was a significant event in my life.
Looking Back First Contact
I heard about the Decathlon ambassador contract at the end of 2019, when I received an invitation via Instagram DM, which led to the contract. Decathlon is a French sports brand and retailer that landed in Japan in March 2019, but I was aware of the brand even before it arrived in Japan.
When I was running in the mountains overseas, I would see people wearing sacks and clothing with the QUECHUA and Kalenji logos on them. I also often see backpackers carrying QUECHUA backpacks on their backs in Japan and overseas.
So, my first visit to an actual store was at the Fengshan store in Kaohsiung, Taiwan in September 2018. The day before I entered the store for the first time, they had a booth at XTERRA TAIWAN, so I was curious and decided to go. Here, I was impressed by the "product lineup," "low prices," and "ingenious product creation.
From there, whenever I went to Taiwan or Hong Kong, I visited the store frequently to shop. Then, in March 2019, about six months after my first visit, the first store in Japan opened in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture. Personally, I was happy to see it open so quickly, thinking that it would eventually make it to Japan as well. I don't have to go all the way to Taiwan to buy anything anymore. w
Corona landed right after I signed the contract.
Although the contract was officially signed at the end of January 2020, the new coronavirus started landing in Japan immediately after that. At that time, we were optimistic that it would be over in six months at most, but looking back, more than three years have passed.
During that time, we were forced to operate under fairly restrictive conditions, including "self-restraint," "mask police," "tournament cancellation," and "travel restrictions. We had originally planned to have a talk show at the store's event booth, or to hold a running event on nearby Mt. We decided that we had no choice but to focus on social networking, so we will continue to review products and provide product feedback mainly on our blog.
In March 2022, when Corona was finally becoming a part of our daily life, we held a test-run event in collaboration with Decathlon Nishinomiya as a related event of the "Rokkosan Cannonball. It was a fun event with a total of 20 participants (including staff and myself). It seemed that everyone who participated had a great time, and we were happy to see the participants again in the mountains two weeks later on the day of the race.
And now, the directly-managed store is closing...
In May 2022, there was a sudden announcement that all directly managed stores in Japan (Nishinomiya and Makuhari) would be closing. This was a shock to me. I used to visit the Nishinomiya store often to chat with the staff, as it was relatively close to my home, so it was a shame to lose such a place. The nearest Decathlon store is now in Taipei again.
I think that many people would like to buy sporting goods by seeing them in person, especially shoes and road bikes. This is especially true for shoes and road bikes, right?
I had talked with the manager of the Nishinomiya store about having another Rokko Cannonball event, but due to store closures and reorganization of the company structure, such talks have been put on hold as the company's headquarters will be moved from Nishinomiya (Hyogo Prefecture) to Tokyo.
My favorite Decathlon products
I have used various Decathlon products, but the following three products are my personal favorites and I still use them as "my army". Decathlon's 15L trail sacks are now being seen on trails in Japan. I think many people will be using them at the Ultra-Trail Mt.Fuji to be held this month.
The other one is MT CUSHION by EVADICT. I have extremely wide feet (4E), and it is difficult to find shoes that fit my feet, including other brands, but MT CUSHION is one of the few shoes that fit my feet. It is relatively wide, and the cushioning is not super thick like HOKA's, but a good balance of cushioning. It is well made. The new model of MT CUSHION is already on sale in France this year, so if you are interested, please check it out.
Also, I use this duffel bag almost every time I go on a race expedition in Japan or overseas. I have not reviewed it on the blog, but it is a key player in the shadows. Normally, it has a capacity of 40L, but it can be expanded to 60L by opening the zipper in the middle. I like the flexibility of being able to expand it for souvenirs. When I bought this, it cost me less than 7,000 yen, but now it is a little expensive at 9,900 yen (due to the strong yen and rising raw material prices). However, it is less than half the price of the equivalent products of major outdoor brands (such as Patagonia's Black hole Duffle), so I recommend it.
And the fabric is very sturdy, so I have been using it for almost 5 years and it still looks good. It is very useful for races of 100 km or more, where there is a lot of equipment. It weighs 1.4kg, so please be careful about the weight when you carry it in your baggage by LCC.
https://www.decathlon.co.jp/products/trekking-carry-bag-40-l-to-60-l-duffel-500-extend
What is the future of Decathlon Japan?
Decathlon is a popular sports brand and retailer in Europe and Asia. It boasts 336 stores in its home market of France and over 290 stores in China. However, there are two markets where it is not good at: the U.S. and Japan.
Japan and the U.S. have very similar sports markets, with "large sporting goods stores" mainly operated by local companies and "global sports brands" sitting in the U.S. In the case of large sporting goods stores, the U.S. is the only country with a large sporting goods store. Large sporting goods stores include Sports Authority and REI in the U.S. and Xebio, Alpen Group, and Kohitsu Sanso in Japan. In Japan, there are world-class brands such as Asics, Mizuno, Descente, and Montbell. It is a red ocean market, so to speak.
When you think about it, Decathlon's success outside the EU is not in countries with mature sports markets like the U.S. or Japan, but in developing countries. In countries like China, Taiwan, Thailand, and India, there are numerous stores, but there were no large sporting goods stores like Decathlon when it first landed. And as for sports brands, although there are now companies such as Li-ning and Anta in China, they are still not as good as American and Japanese brands.
So, my view is that they have changed their traditional way of fighting and switched to a new way. Decathlon Japan itself is already focusing on marketing and online sales, and plans to develop brick-and-mortar stores with domestic partners. Japan is a long country with a large population, so it takes a lot of manpower to conquer the whole country. I also think that at a certain stage of maturity, they may consider developing concept stores like the one in Shanghai, China.
Nicolas Pascal ROQUES, CEO of Decathlon Japan, said, "We have decided to develop a new business model in order to respond quickly to the changing market environment and customer needs. Decathlon's products have been very well received in the Japanese market, and we have seen significant growth over the past few years. To accelerate this growth, we have decided to adopt a forward-looking strategy. While two of our directly managed stores will be closed, we plan to strengthen sales through our own website and expand the number of stores that carry our products both online and in physical stores, in collaboration with our partners.
Personally, I think it was a good decision to close the directly managed stores early.
Concluding Remarks
Thank you very much for your support over the past three years! I am grateful for the valuable experience I have gained.
From now on, I will continue to use Decathlon products as a consumer and an enthusiast.