After an epic road trip, one couple launched an online travel goods business, Calder Supply Co., in Johnson City. (You’ll love their story.)
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It sounds a bit like the set up for a Hollywood movie, but in fact it’s the origin story for a small business. See, Portia’s from Austin. Kyle? He’s from Michigan. Not too long after the young couple met, they quit their jobs and took off an a cross-country trek that would lead them to a new profession and partnership.
Today their Caldera Supply Co. sells imported textiles and handmade leather goods. You know, the kind of cool, durable stuff you’ll want to take with you on your own travel adventures–or wrap up in beautiful paper to place under the tree this holiday season.
Like many small business owners, Portia and Kyle were crazy-busy this autumn preparing for end of year shoppers, but they were gracious enough to take a few minutes to tell us their amazing story.
As an added bonus, they generously provided us with their list of must-visit Hill Country shops, eateries, breweries, wineries, and distilleries. Because that’s what the best travelers do, after all: share their knowledge.
About that road trip
“In early 2016 we hit the road in our 1995 Chevy conversion van (named ‘Foxy’ from a previous life). We covered over 23,000 miles coast-to-coast, border-to-border, visited 28 National Parks and camped in numerous National Forests and public Bureau of Land Management spaces. [Editor’s note: Portia and Kyle chronicled their trip on Instagram and Tumblr.]
During our trip, we came up with a new dream to start our own travel goods business inspired by our life on the road. Upon our return to Texas at the end of 2016, we settled ourselves in an RV park in Henly (shout out to Cottonwood Creek RV Park who let us in despite the fact that Foxy didn’t quite meet park standards for an RV) and got serious about Caldera Supply Co.
Although we had only planned to stay in the Hill Country temporarily, it didn’t take long to realize we were home. We upgraded the van to a 1971 Holiday Rambler Travel Trailer and eventually upgraded the trailer to a proper little house in Johnson City. We drove around the whole country looking for our next place to call home and who knew it was right next door all along.”
On the inspiration for their business
“We always say that Caldera Supply Co. was born in a van. During our trip we started scheming ways to avoid going back to the corporate 9-to-5 life. While traveling, we realized that you actually need way less stuff than you think. Quality items that could be used for multiple purposes to keep life decluttered were essential. Our flagship product is our Blanket Towel — handwoven, super soft and durable textiles that can be used many different ways. We partnered with a small family-owned manufacturer in Turkey who has been making these handwoven textiles for generations and developed a line of Blanket Towels designed for life on the road.
In addition, we offer a line of minimalist leather goods handmade right here in Johnson City by Kyle. Everything is done completely by hand, so each item is unique, can be customized, and is built to last a lifetime.
We primarily sell online on our website and offer free shipping to U.S. residents on all our products. You can also find our products at Unknowable You in Wimberley, and The Mercantile at Mill + Grain in Buda. We are so proud to be a part of these amazing stores run by amazing women. Occasionally, we also do pop-up shops in Austin at the J Crew in The Domain, which we always announce on our social media. We’d love for y’all to come see us next time!”
On bootstrapping their company
“We are very proud that we started [the business] completely on our own, with no investment money. We’ve worked harder than we ever knew we could to cobble together a life out here in the Hill Country. Starting the business required us to live cheaply (in the van and then in the travel trailer) and work part-time service jobs locally, in addition to freelancing whenever possible. It has been overwhelming at times and we wish we had more resources and time to devote to growing Caldera, but we are so pleased with what we’ve done and are excited for where we might go from here.
We are also big believers in environmental and social justice, and we donate a portion of our profits to the National Resources Defense Council (NRDC), an organization that does a ton of great environmental work including fighting to protect the precious public lands that we called home on our road trip.”
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On putting their hearts and souls into the work
“Starting a business is hard, y’all! We wanted our textiles to be as authentic and quality-made as possible, which for us means working with a small, family owned Turkish manufacturer and importing our textiles directly from them. There are time differences, language barriers, holidays they celebrate that we forget to put on our calendars, and long lead times for replenishing stock. It is very gratifying though to work with a family manufacturer and bring their incredible work to a larger audience here in the U.S.
On our end, we do all of our packaging and shipping ourselves. Portia upcycles Kyle’s leather scraps and turns them into hang tags for the Blanket Towel packaging as little bonus gifts to all our customers (makes a great addition to any keychain!). In addition, we work with local printers and use minimalist packaging to reduce our waste as much as possible.
Our line of custom leather goods was such a natural fit for the Caldera Supply Co. product line. Kyle has been leatherworking for a few years and was lucky enough to apprentice under Seth Stidham of Stidham Outfitters in Johnson City once we moved out to the Hill Country. Seth is absolutely one of the best leather workers there is. We have a few staple leather items available on the website, but Kyle has mostly been doing custom orders. Making the leather goods, especially the way Kyle does it, takes a lot of time and attention to detail, but what a gift it is to have people buy and love something you made with your own hands.
Like most retail businesses, we do a lot of our sales around the holidays, which as we write this are bearing down upon us. All of our products are totally made for gifting, so it’s a really exciting time for us and for our business.”
On the Hill Country places they love
“This could be a long list! We love our craft breweries, distilleries, and wineries. Some of our favorites include Real Ale Brewing Co. (Blanco), Treaty Oak Distilling (Dripping Springs), Crowson Wines (Johnson City), Andalusia Whiskey (Blanco), Ron Yates Winery (Hye)
Some shops and makers we love are Stidham Outfitters and Custom Leather (Johnson City), Unknowable You (Wimberley), Ceremony (Wimberley), Echo in Johnson City (Johnson City), and Mercantile at Mill + Grain (Buda).
Restaurants? Josie’s Kitchen (Blanco), Lady Bird Lane Cafe (Johnson City), Pecan Street Brewing (Johnson City), Red Bud Cafe (Blanco), Oli’s Kitchen (Round Mountain), and Vittles (Wimberley).”
Thanks so much to Portia and Kyle for telling their story.
To learn more about their growing company, visit CalderaSupplyCo.com and follow Portia and Kyle on Instagram and Facebook.
Thanks for reading!
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