New Era Partners with Experience Group to Launch Thirty Stores Across Spain in One Year

New Era brings its caps to all parts of the country. The U.S. streetwear brand has expanded its network in Spain in the last year with 28 openings in the Iberian Peninsula. The company will continue with its expansion plan in the coming year, with which it plans to open four more stores in the Spanish market, as well as increase its network of multi-brand outlets such as Foot Locker and El Corte Inglés department stores.

In recent years, Spain has positioned itself on the sales map of the American company as one of the five most important markets. For this reason, New Era has carried out an expansion strategy in the Iberian Peninsula in collaboration with Experience Group, a Spanish company specialized in retail and brand expansion.

In November 2024, the brand landed at number 15 Gran Vía in Madrid, in a store with 1,800 square feet of floor space spread over two floors. Later, in April of this year, New Era continued its consolidation in Spain with its first store in Barcelona, located at 36 Portal del Angel, one of the busiest shopping streets in Barcelona. Since then, the company has increased its network of stores in cities such as Santander, Oviedo, Zaragoza, Valencia, Seville, Cadiz, Marbella, Malaga, Granada and Almeria.

New Era has set up its offices in Madrid and Barcelona as part of its expansion plan in Spain

Currently, New Era operates through 300 multi-brand points of sale in Spain, in large distribution centers such as Sprinter, El Corte Inglés, JD, Snipes and Foot Locker. The company has set up offices in Madrid and Barcelona as part of the expansion of its store network for next year, with four new locations already planned.

The group, which took its first steps as a cap specialist, has diversified into clothing and accessories. The company maintains the objective of “strengthening the relationship with fashion, music and urban culture, while maintaining the sporting heritage of the United States,“ says Gian Paolo Mantello, director of New Era in Spain.

In 2022, the group’s turnover was close to one billion dollars. A year later, the company was on the verge of its IPO, with which it could have reached a value of between 4 and 5 billion dollars.

New Era acquired ‘47 in 2024, a U.S. cap and sportswear brand

In 2024, New Era reached an agreement to acquire ‘47, a U.S. brand of unisex and children’s caps and sportswear. The amount of the deal was not disclosed, but according to U.S. media, the acquisition is expected to generate around $2 billion in annual revenues.

New Era was founded in 1920 by German Ehrhardt Koch, but it was not until 1932 that it rose to fame when the second generation of the family joined the business. Koch’s son, Harold Koch, redirected the brand’s focus to baseball caps, an item that was gaining popularity at the time.

By 1950 he was the only independent cap manufacturer supplying products to major league baseball teams. Its new audience led it to locate its headquarters in Buffalo, New York. In 2000 it took a step in its international leap with a first office in the United Kingdom.