New Era and Columbia Fuel Spanish Experience Group Growth as Sales Surge 60% in 2025

Experience Group overcomes the New Balance stage and goes turbo. The Spanish company, which specializes in the distribution of international brands, expects to close 2025 with a turnover of €32 million, representing a 60% growth, and to exceed 78 million euros in 2026, thanks to the development of brands such as New Era and Columbia.

The company, founded by Nacho Puig and Juan Manuel Álvarez, which has just added the Inveready fund to its capital, will close the current fiscal year with a network of more than 60 active points of sale after having opened 37 new stores. In 2026, the company will continue to grow through internationalization, taking the U.S. brand New Era to new locations in Europe.

According to company sources, the private equity fund Inveready subscribed last September a financing operation of five million euros and has become a minority partner of the company, with less than 7% of the capital (control of the company remains in the hands of Álvarez and Puig).

Inveready takes less than 7% of the capital of Experience Group, which will close 2025 with a turnover of €32 million 

The resources raised will enable the development of Experience Group’s strategic plan, based on commercial expansion, operational efficiency, technological transformation and exclusivity contracts with leading brands in the sector. The company also bases its growth on omnichannel integration between retail, wholesale and digital, the search for operational synergies between the managed brands and an international expansion plan that contemplates its entry into France, Italy and other European markets.

The company, conceived as an independent platform specializing in the operation and development of premium brands, will allocate part of the investment to “the modernizationThe company, conceived as an independent platform specializing in the operation and development of premium brands, will allocate part of the investment to “technological modernization, including the improvement of internal systems, the expansion of logistics platforms and the integration of advanced solutions to maximize the group’s operating efficiency.

With a gross operating profit (ebitda) close to 18% of its turnover and a total workforce of 450 employees (including store personnel), Experience Group bases its model on the combination of efficient corporate structures with expert retail and distribution teams. The company is positioned as a strategic partner for international brands seeking growth in the Iberian Peninsula through exclusivity agreements, direct management and brand building at the point of sale.

Led by Nacho Puig and Juan Manuel Álvarez, Experience Group is in litigation with New Balance.

After the breakup with New Balance, a company with which Experience Group is in litigation, the Spanish company’s portfolio currently consists of New Era, which has opened 30 stores in a year in the Iberian Peninsula and will exceed 40 stores in early 2026, and Columbia Sportswear, which has opened 30 stores in a year in the Iberian Peninsula and will exceed 40 stores in early 2026 .The Spanish company’ s portfolio currently includes New Era, which has opened 30 stores in a year in the Iberian Peninsula and will have more than 40 stores by the beginning of 2026, and Columbia Sportswear, which has signed with Experience Group for the operation of its retail network in the Iberian Peninsula for the next five years.

Experience Group has been responsible for New Balance’s expansion in Spain since 2011. The U.S. sportswear company had 22 stores in the Iberian Peninsula and 250 employees. When the agreement was about to reach its tenth anniversary, New Balance broke the contract, which led Experience Group to file a lawsuit against its Spanish subsidiary (the company Alfico).

The company has so far recomposed its business with New Era and Columbia Sportswear. The former, popular for its baseball caps, opened its first store in Madrid at the end of 2024, a 160-square-meter store on Gran Vía, and in April this year its first store in Barcelona, in Portal del Ángel.

Since then, New Era has increased its network of own stores in cities such as Santander, Oviedo, Zaragoza, Valencia, Seville, Cadiz, Marbella, Malaga, Granada and Almeria.It also operates through 300 multi-brand points of sale throughout the country, in large distribution centers such as Sprinter, El Corte Inglés, JD, Snipes and Foot Locker.

Columbia has also accelerated its development in Spain with stores in Madrid and Barcelona. The Madrid store opened in October in Gran Vía de Madrid and in Rambla Catalunya, in Barcelona, in premises previously occupied by New Balance. The company also has six outlets and some twenty corners in El Corte Inglés.