Munich's retail bet turned loss-making — 65 jobs and 15 stores in one ERE

Munich, the Catalan shoemaker founded in 1939 and still controlled by the Berneda family from Capellades near Barcelona, built its name across two registers: fashion footwear and sport. By 2026 the split was roughly 70% fashion, 30% sport, with some 400 employees and a Spanish retail estate of more than 40 doors, including El Corte Inglés corners. Sales had stopped growing: about €80 million in 2024, and a forecast of around €70 million for the fiscal year ending March 2026.

The problem was the estate. Parts of the store network had slipped into losses, and the company's attempts to renegotiate lease conditions failed. Debt exceeded €20 million by March 2026, when Munich began renegotiating its liabilities to push short-term debt into long-term obligations. Chief executive Xavier Berneda had signalled the direction in February: the year's plan, he said, was to reorder retail and distribution.

In early August 2026 the reorder arrived as an ERE filed through La Tormenta Perfecta, the subsidiary that operates the store network: about 65 retail jobs — 16% of the workforce — and the closure of roughly 15 stores across Barcelona, Madrid, Sevilla, Málaga, Zaragoza and San Sebastián. The consultation period runs to mid-August; affected workers accuse the company of trying to accelerate the process and of proposing to pay statutory severance in instalments. The company calls the decision painful and says other measures were tried first.

The shape of the case: the domestic estate that made the brand visible became the loss it could no longer carry — while the international push goes on, with openings in the Dominican Republic and Costa Rica and negotiations for the UAE. Shrinking at home, growing abroad.