At the height of summer, Sylvain Darracq, Intersport’s director for France and Belgium, announced his departure from the cooperative where he had spent thirteen years of his career. The giant sporting goods and apparel retailer has named a new chief executive for its operations in France and Belgium. The executive, who has been at the company’s Longjumeau headquarters since October 13, has a background in mass‑market retail, as first reported by specialist outlet LSA and sports-business title Sport-Guide.

Intersport has appointed Philippe Giovanni to lead Intersport France-Belgium, the company confirmed to FashionNetwork.com.

The executive “will be responsible for driving the transformation, delivering the 2030 strategic plan and advancing the Intersport cooperative with ambition, in France and internationally”.

Philippe Giovanni has three decades’ experience in the retail sector. In an industry undergoing major transformation, he notably oversaw the consolidation of the Bricomarché, Bricorama and Brico Cash chains within the Les Mousquetaires group, where he spent nearly twenty years. More recently, he led the international retail arm of Nobilia, a specialist in fitted kitchens for consumers.

One year after Gérard Leclerc was elected chairman of the cooperative, succeeding Jacky Rihouet, the new leader will have to implement the next phase of the group’s strategy (which also owns Blackstore) through to 2030.

“His expertise in cooperative and franchise models, his command of central purchasing operations supporting single-channel networks and his solid experience in managing multidisciplinary teams will be major assets for our collective,” the Intersport group said in a statement.

The group, which recently renewed its agreements with several major sports federations in France, aims to reach €4.4 billion in revenue by 2030 and a 15% market share in sports. The new chief, whose profile as an expert in consolidating retail chains is prompting questions, will also have an investment budget of €70 to €100 million over the next three years to transform the group.