Decathlon

Decathlon started in 1976 in northern France with a vision. Sell athletic equipment directly and cut out wholesalers. Most sporting goods stores charge double what equipment cost. Decathlon inverted this model. They built warehouse stores with their own brands. They cut margins to almost nothing. Instead of selling 200 shoes at 50% margin, they'd sell 2,000 at 5% margin and make the same money on volume. This required controlling supply chains vertically. Decathlon built factories in Asia, owned product development entirely, negotiated directly with materials suppliers. Running shoes cost $40 in Nike stores and 12 at Decathlon.