Decathlon and Media Markt partnership: Two retail giants, one concept

​Sport meets electronics – at four new locations: Decathlon and MediaMarktSaturn are rapidly expanding their partnership, which began in the spring. In November, four further ‘store-in-store’ areas will open in Bremen, Berlin, Weilheim and Salzgitter. The pace of this expansion is certainly turning heads.

​The sports equipment manufacturer and retailer Decathlon and MediaMarktSaturn had entered into a strategic partnership in Germany. What began as a pilot scheme is now really gaining momentum. On 26 March 2026, Germany’s first Decathlon shop-in-shop opened in the refurbished MediaMarkt store at Munich’s PEP shopping centre. At the same time, the first joint shop-in-shop, covering around 1,000 m², began operations.

The initial results appear to have been a resounding success across the board. Just a few months after the launch in Munich, the next major step is set to follow: Decathlon and MediaMarktSaturn are significantly expanding their partnership in Germany – following the launch of their first joint retail space at Munich’s PEP shopping centre in March 2026, four further shop-in-shop locations will open in November in Bremen, Berlin, Weilheim and Salzgitter.

“Flexible and scalable”: What lies behind the concept

The store-in-store model follows a clear logic: “Customers today think less in terms of product categories and more in terms of lifestyles: for many people, sport and technology naturally go hand in hand,” both companies are convinced. At the same time, product categories are increasingly overlapping, for example with fitness trackers, smartwatches, action cameras and e-mobility solutions.

For MediaMarktSaturn, the collaboration forms part of an overarching platform strategy: the partnership with Decathlon is part of the strategic ‘Space-as-a-Service’ initiative – with this approach, MediaMarktSaturn aims to ‘rethink retail space’. According to the company, MMS offers its partners “ideal conditions for presenting their products and solutions in a straightforward manner in physical stores – directly on the shop floor, with personalised advice.”

For Decathlon, this model offers the opportunity to tap into additional brick-and-mortar retail space and expand its own network of branches through a variety of location and partnership models. This is also confirmed by Stefan Kaiser, Director of Development & Real Estate at Decathlon Germany: the ‘store-in-store’ concept works in a “flexible and scalable” way, he says, combining “sport and technology at established locations” – and thus making the product range accessible to even more people.

Ambitious targets: Decathlon on track to reach 120 stores and beyond

The partnership with MediaMarktSaturn is not an end in itself, but part of an aggressive overall strategy. With these new co-located spaces, Decathlon aims to expand its German branch network to more than 120 locations by 2026. Decathlon currently operates more than 110 stores in Germany; MediaMarktSaturn has around 400 stores across the country.

The pace of expansion is remarkable: Decathlon had announced plans to open more than 60 further branches in Germany by the end of 2027 – bringing the total number to at least 150 shops. The expansion is set to cost the company, which has its German headquarters in Plochingen near Stuttgart, more than 100 million euros.

And the partnership with MediaMarktSaturn is clearly not the end of the story: according to both companies, they are already in discussions about further joint locations.

Analysis: What the partnership means for the cycling market

The partnership between Decathlon and MediaMarktSaturn is far more than just a retail collaboration – it sends a signal to the entire German cycling and sports retail sector. In recent years, Decathlon has positioned itself not only as the price leader in the mass market, but increasingly as a serious player in the cycling segment. In the mobility sector, turnover in the bicycle and e-bike segment recently grew by 13 per cent – supported by partnerships with leasing providers such as JobRad and the expansion of the high-end road bike brand Van Rysel. Decathlon plans to open around 25 new stores by 2026; the focus remains on the bicycle and e-bike segments, strengthening service offerings and expanding circular business models.

The ‘store-in-store’ partnership with MediaMarktSaturn now gives Decathlon something that is crucial in the bicycle retail sector: a physical presence in high-traffic locations, without the immense costs associated with traditional new store openings. This poses a serious challenge to traditional specialist retailers. Decathlon is thus moving into catchment areas previously dominated by specialist cycle retailers – and combining its range of bikes, e-bikes and accessories with the walk-in trade from the electronics sector.

For consumers, on the other hand, this means a wider range of products that is easily accessible. Those who previously had to put up with a long journey to the nearest Decathlon store may, in future, find a comprehensive range of products right there in their local MediaMarkt. The partnership will thus become a key component of the German expansion strategy. It remains to be seen whether the partnership between the two retail giants will also put further pressure on specialist bike retailers in the medium term – but the trend is clearly pointing in one direction: Decathlon is continuing to step up a gear in the German cycle market.

​​An overview of the four new locations

The premises range in size from around 1,000 to 1,600 square metres. Specifically, the openings are spread throughout November:

• The first to open will be the MediaMarkt in Bremen’s Weserpark on 6 November, featuring a Decathlon section covering around 1,600 square metres.
• A week later, Berlin-Tegel follows, also with around 1,600 square metres.
• On 27 November, a further section of the MediaMarkt in Weilheim, covering around 1,100 square metres, will open.
• In Salzgitter, the opening of a space measuring around 1,000 square metres is planned for late November.

The geographical spread of the sites – from northern Germany via Berlin to southern Bavaria – underlines that this is not a regional trial, but a nationwide roll-out strategy.