Hygge Coworking is coming to Charlotte's Belmont neighborhood.
Effective May 1, Hygge will acquire Advent Coworking for an undisclosed price — adding a fifth location to its footprint. The 28,000-square-foot space, at 933 Louise Ave., houses 84 private offices, five meeting rooms, a yoga studio and an event space. The Advent acquisition will bring Hygge up to roughly 900 members and add two employees.
Hygge founder Garrett Tichy and Kevin Giriunas, founder of Advent, have been friendly competitors since launching their coworking businesses in 2015. Since then, both have been mainstays in the local coworking space, offering an alternative to the national players.
"This one's big," Tichy said. "I've always wanted to be on the east side, but it's just never been palpable. The real estate market is tight and expensive."
The past two years have been full of change for Giriunas — Covid-19, the birth of his daughter and a move to Asheville. Recently, he has been managing the coworking team remotely. Giriunas put his ego aside and realized that setup was not what Advent needed. Merging with Hygge provides employees with more career opportunities and members with more collaborative options.
Giriunas said he poured his heart into Advent but is ready to see what's next. Perhaps most importantly, the foundation Advent built will remain.
Hygge has pulled off a big turnaround since Covid-19 abruptly shuttered operations in 2020. The business lost more than half of its members and hundreds of thousands of dollars in revenue. It was forced to reverse an expansion at its flagship office on West Hill Street, recently renamed Westmere Avenue. Hygge also has offices on Remount Road, Jay Street and at Camp North End.
Now, Hygge is on a fast track to 1,000 members, well over pre-pandemic numbers. Monthly recurring revenue from memberships is up about $35,000 a month compared to a year ago.
"The pandemic happened exactly how it was supposed to," Tichy said. "I'm not sad about anything that happened because we are in a really great place right now. ... The pandemic needed to happen for this to be a palatable effort. It's insane to say that."
Since Covid, Tichy has found more work-life balance. His "say yes and figure it out later" tendency softened into more thoughtful decision-making.
He is feeling the pressure, however. He wants Advent members to feel good about the transition. Advent is a well-run operation, he said, and the Hygge team can pull some new processes from it. New perspectives have always been good for Hygge, he added.
Tichy's other projects, including the Hygge FIT gym concept on Remount Road, are seeing success. Last November, Tichy and Alyssa Pressler launched a retail concept, Lokal, at Camp North End. The store is meant to be a starting point for retail entrepreneurs. Lokal's current business activity is on par with the holiday season, Tichy said.
"You learn a lot when you are going to close every month, potentially," Tichy said. "I've never wanted to be a scrappy business, but we had to be."
Giriunas has no immediate business plans in Asheville. He wants to delve into new building projects and paint more.
