Muy Mucho was born on Casanova street, in front of the Hospital Clínic, in 1997. The home decor brand was launched by Norbert and Gabriela Quiles, a French-Swiss couple who arrived in Barcelona from Algeria. It wasn't until ten years ago that their children, Stefan and Audrey, took over and stepped on the gas to grow the family business and reach more markets with a proposal that ended up shifting towards the premium sector.
Under this premise, the Catalan company now has 180 stores spread across large and small cities in more than 20 countries, of which only 20 establishments are owned and the rest are managed through franchises. The company's turnover will reach 39 million euros this 2023, taking into account the income from its own stores, more frequent in Catalonia, Madrid, and Paris, and the products they sell to franchises. With the turnover of the rest of the franchises, the figure will rise this year to 72 million euros.
Still digesting the impact of the pandemic, which increased its indebtedness, Muy Mucho is preparing to celebrate its 30th anniversary, having become a digitized brand with production less dependent on Asia. These four years of preparation until 2027 must serve to prepare it to once again drive a new stage of growth, as undertaken by the second generation. This is according to its new CEO, David Monné, the second person outside the family to hold that position. Monné has 20 years in the retail sector and comes from working the last two years as Retail Director at Kave Home in Girona. Previously, he worked for Luxottica, Burberry, and Pepe Jeans.
The company, based in Sant Boi de Llobregat, plans to slow down openings from now until 2027, with about 20 per year compared to the 40 and 50 it made before the pandemic. This year, halfway through, it has opened 34 new establishments. Nor will the focus in the next four years be on reaching new markets, opting instead to strengthen its presence in existing ones. Monné only anticipates that Italy will have a significant weight in 2024, where it already has a presence in Sardinia and Florence and will soon incorporate Rome and Milan. The list of countries in which it operates includes Andorra, France, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Armenia, Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, United States, Mexico, Guatemala, Panama, Guadeloupe, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Mauritius, and Reunion. Once it turns 30, it is expected to regain the cruising speed it had in 2019.
Muy Mucho has about 200 employees. About 50 are in Sant Boi, from where product design for all stores and marketing are centralized. Production is outsourced to third parties, with 40% of manufacturing currently done in Asia, a figure that is intended to be reduced in the coming years, bringing suppliers closer to Spain and Europe. Including franchise staff, the workforce rises to 1,000 employees. In addition to having more local production, the decoration brand wants to use these four years before its 30th anniversary to strengthen its digital channel, currently only present in Spain and with a residual contribution to revenue. The next markets where they will export their e-commerce channel will be France and Italy.