Intersport Deutschland Accelerates Expansion, Shattering Growth Goals Ahead of 2030 Target

In a highly competitive retail landscape, Intersport Deutschland is significantly outpacing its own ambitious growth targets. Demonstrating the robust health of the sports retail sector, the association announced it has successfully exceeded its expansion objectives for the 2025/26 financial year, hitting major milestones on its roadmap to 2030.

Surpassing the Benchmark

Intersport had originally aimed to complete nine major location projects over the 2025/26 financial year. Instead, the company managed to execute 13 separate location projects across Germany. These projects encompass a mix of entirely new store openings, significant expansions, comprehensive remodels, and the rebranding of existing stores to match the group's current corporate identity.

With this accelerated momentum, Intersport Deutschland has already realized over 50 of the 100 new locations it originally planned to open by 2030.

"We are on a very good path to reaching our goal of 100 new Intersport-branded locations much earlier than 2030," stated Intersport CEO Dr. Alexander von Preen, reflecting on the rapid rollout.

A prime example of this expansion is the Intersport Voswinkel store in Essen’s Limbecker Platz, which relocated within the shopping center in March 2026 to massively expand its footprint to around 2,000 square meters. Other key cities benefiting from new or upgraded locations include Herford, Göttingen, Nürnberg, Cottbus, Bad Zwischenahn, Nordhorn, and Freising.

Diverse Retail Formats: Superstores and Flagships

A core pillar of Intersport's rapid expansion is the deployment of diverse and targeted retail footprints, designed to match regional demand:

• Intersport Superstores: A new premium large-scale format has been successfully rolled out in Chemnitz and Halle/Saale. A third Superstore is slated to open in Jena in early October 2026, with the company projecting an additional 10 to 15 Superstores across Germany in the coming years.

• Flagship Stores: The network's premier tier is also growing. In March 2026, two new locations—Intersport Krumholz in Mülheim-Kärlich and Sport Förg in Augsburg/Friedberg—were added to the roster, bringing the total number of German Intersport Flagship stores to six.

A Broader Vision: The "Best in Sports" Strategy

The physical retail expansion is just one facet of Intersport's overarching "Best in Sports: Up for Future" growth strategy, a holistic approach aimed at pushing the cooperative's sales to six billion euros by 2030.

To support this massive physical scale-up, Intersport has been investing heavily behind the scenes. In late 2024 and through 2025, the company partnered with FORTNA to expand its central high-bay warehouse in Heilbronn, adding advanced automated shuttles and picking technology to ensure the supply chain remains resilient, flexible, and capable of handling rapid e-commerce and retail growth.

Furthermore, the company has strategically broadened its market reach through calculated inorganic growth. In late 2025, Intersport acquired a 50 percent stake in Unitex GmbH, a strategic merger that effectively unites the sports and fashion retail sectors, allowing Intersport to harness new synergies in footwear, textiles, and lifestyle segments.

Empowering Entrepreneurs and Securing Leadership

To fuel its grassroots expansion, Intersport is leaning heavily on its "Selbstständig mit Intersport" (Independent with Intersport) program. This initiative acts as an incubator for new retail entrepreneurs, offering comprehensive support ranging from financing and location scouting to store design, marketing, and professional qualification.

The successful execution of this multi-pronged strategy has generated high confidence in the boardroom. The Supervisory Board recently extended the contracts of CEO Dr. Alexander von Preen and CFO Thomas Storck prematurely through 2029, guaranteeing continuity in leadership as the group powers through its aggressive growth phase.

With more location projects already in the pipeline for the 2026/27 financial year, Intersport Deutschland is sending a strong signal to the retail market: physical retail, when paired with clear segmentation, automated logistics, and a unified brand vision, is not just surviving—it is thriving.