In the same week the ecommerce behemoth Amazon announced its latest traditional brick-and-mortar effort with its first Amazon Style store, the international French sporting goods giant Decathlon said it would again alter its U.S. strategy by exiting its three California stores in the San Francisco market to focus on online sales and distributing its products to existing retailers such as Walmart and Target.

“We are changing the business model to adapt to current (U.S.) market conditions and to better respond to the needs of our customers,” said Christian Ollier, CEO of Decathlon USA since June 2021. “…Our commitment to making sport and the outdoors more accessible through to our quality and affordable products remains intact. This changeover will further increase the accessibility of our products throughout the country.”

Decathlon will shortly shutter its Emeryville, CA and San Francisco stores, months after closing its Market Street location in San Francisco shortly after the COVID-19 pandemic commenced. The actions come more than 30 years after Decathlon’s first attempt to enter U.S. retail failed following its acquisition of the former MVP Sports chain from Douglas Barron.

As for Amazon, its latest store concept, leaning heavily on technology features and offering a futuristic fitting room, will debut at The Americana at Brand in Los Angeles and offer men’s and women’s shoes, apparel, and accessories. The 30,000-sq.-ft. store’s merchandise mix will be split between well-known brands and selections from Amazon’s own, lesser-known private labels. So far, the company isn’t disclosing the store’s planned ratio of brands to own labels or providing the names of brands that will be available to its Los Angeles shoppers.

The ecommerce giant clearly wants to cull key consumer insights from the traditional retail venture as it plots its next move and expansion plans for the channel.