Thursday, March 28, 2024 Mar 28, 2024
44° F Dallas, TX
Advertisement
Local News

Why Dallas Startup Edition Collective is Downsizing, Got Locked Out

Growing pains cause Dallas entrepreneur to make cuts to his company.
By Danielle Abril |
Image

Dallas entrepreneur Matt Alexander is facing some of the tough realities of leading an early-stage startup. His company, Edition Collective Inc., recently cut 60 percent of its team and got locked out of its downtown headquarters. “It’s been a difficult few weeks,” said Alexander, explaining that he’s watched the investor market cool down in his sector. “We just had to make some difficult decisions to make sure [our position] remains positive.”

A document dated June 30 is posted on the doors of Edition Collective notifying the company that it has been locked out.
A document dated June 30 is posted on the doors of Edition Collective notifying the company that it has been locked out.

A notice, dated June 30, posted on the doors of the office at Alto 211 says that Edition Collective, the umbrella company for apparel companies Foremost and Imprint, was locked out due to delinquent rent. Alexander said he already was in talks with Alterra International, which owns the building, about terminating his lease to cut back on overhead costs. He was unaware the company had been locked out, as he has been working remotely. The lockout comes around the same time Alexander had to cut three of the startup’s five team members.

Edition Collective is in the process of moving to the Dallas Entrepreneur Center in the West End, where it expects to operate for the foreseeable future.

The job and office cuts were necessary for the company to become cash flow positive, Alexander said. While the company is downsizing overhead, it’s more than doubled its revenue, he said, declining to disclose figures. He expects the startup to be profitable within the next two months. The startup is also nearing the close of its next round of funding and getting ready to announce some new partnerships. Alexander said he chose to go this route in hopes of sidestepping any future challenges that may come at a time when investors are slowing their activity.

“It is difficult to make decisions that are beneficial to the company in the long-term but detrimental to people in the short-term,” Alexander said, adding that letting go of some of his teammates was the hardest decision he had to make. “But we’re in the position now to run profitably, and that’s a unique thing for companies in our space.”

Edition Collective has already teamed up with rewardStyle, which will allow Imprint to generate additional revenue. The startup will use rewardStyle-generated links to send consumers directly to retailers once Imprint sells out of its inventory. Every sale generated on rewardStyle will earn Imprint a percentage of the profit.

Imprint currently has about 54,000 monthly users on its mobile app, which provides users with editorial content surrounding a curated selection of products for men, Alexander said.

The changes come about three months after Edition Collective announced its next phase of development—the relaunch of Foremost, an online retailer that makes clothing for men and women, and changing the name of Need to Imprint. During that time, Alexander moved Foremost’s manufacturing from Dallas to Los Angeles.

Related Articles

Local News

LeadingOff (3/28/24)

It's a beautiful day for some baseball.
Image
Travel

Is Fort Worth Really ‘The New Austin’?

The Times of London tells us it's now the coolest city in Texas.
Image
Dallas 500

Meet the Dallas 500: Chakri Gottemukkala, o9 Solutions

The o9 solutions leader talks about garnering a $3.7 billion valuation, growing 10x over the next few years, and how the company is innovating.
Advertisement