Sally Zikri, CFO and Public Affairs Officer, Decathlon Egypt

We recruit people who are genuinely passionate about sports and who hold certain values, and we look for those values before we even look at technical skills. We look for generosity. We look for people who are very genuine. And we look for autonomy and responsibility. I think those are the real keys to successful recruitment, and it’s what makes things work well here. People love sports, so there’s this strong team spirit across the business worldwide.

This year we introduced what we call our affordability strategy for Egyptians. We reduce our margins to the minimum, we don’t spend on TV or radio ads, and we limit our expenses as much as possible so we can stay affordable and reach the widest number of people. We believe well-being should be promoted more in Egypt, and that sports should be a real way of life, not only a way to sell more.

On the other side, we’re the first retailer in Egypt to implement what we call a circular business model. We don’t just sell; we do buybacks, second-life resale, and rentals. So if you have a kid who’s outgrown their bike, you can bring it back to Decathlon, and we give you a gift voucher for its real value on the day you return it. That bike then gets resold as a second-life product, often at 50 to 60 percent off, to another customer. It promotes both circularity and affordability at the same time.

In the past two years, we’ve opened three new stores in a single year and developed our e-commerce platform and mobile application, and we’ve been so happy with how Egyptians have responded. We started from very low brand awareness, since Decathlon is a French brand mostly known in Europe and French-speaking countries. Now we’re proud that Decathlon is genuinely well known in Egypt, the first name that comes to mind for back-to-school shopping or for kids’ and adults’ sports practices.

We’re also proud that almost everyone on our leadership and executive team regularly plays sports themselves. We’re promoters of sports every day, ourselves included.

The youth population in Egypt is becoming more and more significant, and people are becoming more aware of their health and well-being. We’re really happy to see that shift in mindset. Mothers are enrolling their kids in at least one or two sports activities a week, and for us that’s a great opportunity, because our core focus is making sports accessible to everyone, not just beginners or experts. We want every level to find what they need in our range.

The most important thing is simply getting people to practice sports. It’s a growing trend in Egyptian culture, a genuinely healthy one, and we’re proud to be part of it.

I joined Decathlon 17 years ago, so it’s hard to point to one single surprise, but what keeps surprising me every day is the people, the human capital. When you’re surrounded by people who genuinely embody generosity, authenticity, and responsibility, you come to work every day in a good mindset, wanting to be proactive and involved in decisions, because the people around you share a similar way of thinking. You’re happy to be adding value every day.

That’s the internal side. On the other side, you know what you’re doing also helps the community. It’s not just for yourself. Seeing kids at a club wearing Decathlon gear and playing sports is something we’re genuinely proud of. I’m not sure it’s a change in mindset so much as something our whole company has always felt proud of.

We’ll keep focusing more and more on two things: innovation and sustainability. Sustainability is a major pillar for us across our entire value chain, from production through logistics, supply chain, and retail. With our suppliers, we work to reduce CO2 emissions, monitor water treatment, and look closely at social responsibility for workers inside the factories, even though we don’t own those factories ourselves; we go deep into the details with our subcontractors. On the production side, we use recycled materials and avoid packaging that isn’t recyclable, and we keep growing our circular model through second-life resale and rentals.

Sustainability isn’t only environmental for us; it’s also human. That means making sure our teammates are happy, paid fairly, not burning out, and have development plans that are genuinely followed through. Alongside that, innovation is key to how we grow. We’re proud that our Easy Breath snorkeling mask, which was a major invention worldwide, has now been developed further for diving as well, and our microfiber towels, which you now see on beaches and by swimming pools everywhere, came out of that same drive to innovate.

So it’s about continuing to innovate and follow where new trends are heading, while staying simple, respectful of the planet, and above all accessible, because we’re here to be inside every house. Those, to me, are the real keys to success.