A downtown office could be coming next year

An Australian bedding company has selected Austin for its U.S. headquarters.

The Lad Collective landed on Austin as the home base for its U.S. expansion thanks to Texas’ business-friendly environment and strong direct-to-consumer environment in the state capital. That’s according to Ed Ovenden, who co-founded the company with his brother Bill Ovenden in Queensland, Australia, in 2020. The company intends to keep its operations lean for now. But as it grows its Austin team over the next year, it hopes to search for office space downtown to support incoming staff.

The company currently fulfills orders for its products, which include bedding like sheets, pillowcases and duvets, out of a Cincinnati distribution center. That allows two- to three-day ground shipping to 80% of U.S. customers, but like its office space, as the company scales up its operations here, it intends to bring distribution to the Texas capital.

“Long term, the plan is to bring distribution into Austin as well, just like we did in Australia,” Ed Ovenden said. “But we’re not going to rush it. We’ll do it when the volume justifies it, and we can do it properly. The short version: we’ve done this before. Start scrappy, stay disciplined, leave no stone unturned, and invest in infrastructure as we earn it. Austin is home now, and we’re here to build.”

For now, Ed Ovenden said the company’s operating out of a coworking space in the Rainey Street district’s Paseo tower, where he moved with his wife from Australia about three weeks ago.

“When we started TLC in Australia, it was literally from the spare bedroom at mum and dad’s place,” he said. “From there we grew to a team of eight, and we’ve just purchased a $6.5 million warehouse and distribution center in Noosaville, Queensland, sitting on 4,192 square meters (or about one acre) of land. The plan is to follow that exact same blueprint here in Austin. Build the brand, create a community, hire a local team, then bring operations in-house once we reach scale.”

Plans for hiring for the local team will be focused on marketing, operations and customer experience roles over the next year. As the team grows, the company will seek out dedicated office space with the hopes of remaining downtown.

The company looked at coastal cities Los Angeles and New York City before landing on Austin. It selected the Texas capital both for a business-friendly environment — backed by no state income tax and a state government that supports business growth — and an energy that reminded the founders of the company’s origins.

“The energy here reminds us of what made Noosa Heads, Queensland, Australia exciting when we first started TLC,” Ed Ovenden said. “Austin also gives us access to a younger, engaged consumer base, including the UT community, that aligns perfectly with our target demographic. Frankly, the lower cost of doing business in Austin versus New York or LA means we can invest more into growth rather than overheads. We wanted to be in a city where we could build, not just operate.”

Written by Cody Baird for Austin Business Journal