Global sporting goods giant Decathlon taps Ikea exec as CEO

The chief digital officer of Ikea is taking the top spot at a vertically integrated sporting goods company with stores around the globe.

Decathlon has appointed Barbara Martin Coppola as CEO, effective mid-March 2022. She succeeds Michel Aballea, who has been in the position since 2015.

Coppola, a French and Spanish binational, has a strong digital and business background. She joins Decathlon from Ikea, where she has been chief digital officer since 2018.  Prior to that, she was chief marketing officer — growth leadership at GrubHub. She also spent seven years at Google.

"The current good health of Decathlon and our strong ambitions encourage us to accelerate the transformation of our business model to better assert our position as a world leader in sport,” said Fabien Derville, chairman, Decathlon, which operates approximately 1,600 stores around the world. “We are convinced that Barbara will be able to lead this transformation while respecting our values.”

Coppola’s appointment comes as Decathon has been investing in its e-commerce and supply chain operations. Last year, the company’s Canadian division rolled out mobile 3D robots from Exotect across 30 distribution centers.

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