Go Sport receivership brings uncertainty to French market

GRENOBLE, France – Grenoble’s commercial court put the sporting goods retailing giant, Go Sport, in receivership on 19 January after being notified of its state of cessation of payment. For retailer insiders, these problems at Go Sport don’t come as a surprise.

The company has not been declared bankrupt, but two administrators and two legal representatives have been appointed for an initial 6-month observation period. The chain currently operates 223 stores in France. The operator of the French stores, Go Sport France, escapes the same fate for the time being. But “its situation will be impacted by that of its parent company” , warned the magistrates at the commercial court. According to French media reports, Go Sport Group employs between 200 and 250 employees, while its subsidiary, Go Sport France, has almost 2,000 employees. The first includes all support services, while the second includes the stores, which would, therefore, not be affected by the supervision of the receiver.

As the subsidiary depends on the group for its supplies, it is expected that the shelves will soon be empty. The general expectation is that Go Sport France will not be able to avoid receiver- ship in the short term and that everything will be put up for sale. According to the court, Go Sport France has a small surplus of available assets. For its part, Go Sport shows a multimillion deficit despite postponing the supplier debt (in particular with Adidas) and a lastminute contribution from the shareholder HPB.

Too small to survive

Loss-making for years, Go Sport, founded in 1978, was bought at the end of 2021 for 1 symbolic euro by HPB from the parent company Rallye, which is itself heavily in debt. According to sports industry insiders, Go Sport holds a market share of only 5% in a market, which is dominated by Decathlon. Go Sport is said to be too small to assume its position as a sports generalist, and seller of international and own brands.

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