Monix, Chile's 85-year-old perfumery chain, collapsed after family infighting

Monix was founded on 7 July 1938 by the Silva Urzúa family in Santiago, Chile. It began selling men's and women's accessories — shirts, ties, hats, gloves, cigarette cases, bags, necklaces and bracelets. In 1954, founder Miguel Silva Urzúa introduced the house's first fragrance, Colonia 124, and the business turned exclusively to perfumery. In 1992 it became a corporation with the three Silva heirs as equal partners. At its peak, Monix ran 13 stores and distributed directly to retailers and supermarkets across the country.

The three partner heirs did not get along. By the late 2010s, family friction had already closed most of the chain: only two stores remained — a downtown Santiago location on Matías Cousiño street and a shop at Mall Plaza Puente Alto. Diario Financiero reported that 'the already bad relationship between the brothers deteriorated further, to the point of making the commercial relationship — and the family one — unsustainable.'

Chile's 2019 social crisis ('estallido social') and then the pandemic finished the company off, despite the efforts of partner Miguel Silva Bahamondes and his son Miguel Silva Schower, who the press said sacrificed their personal assets trying to save it. In March 2023, Monix filed for voluntary liquidation with liabilities of about 2.2 billion Chilean pesos. Its main creditors were the state tax service, Tesorería General de la República, and state bank Banco Estado. After 85 years, one of Chile's most traditional perfumeries was gone.