With one location already under construction, another PopUp Bagels is now looking to open in Buckhead too! Newly installed signage indicates that PopUp Bagels is coming soon to Buckhead Landing (aka the former Disco Kroger center) where the bagel shop will open in a 1,500 square foot space.
ToNeTo Atlanta reported in August that the first Atlanta area location of PopUp Bagels is coming to SPX Alley (661 Auburn Avenue), where it replaces Butter & Cream, a local ice cream shop that closed in the roughly 1,200 square foot space in October 2023 after five years in business.
PopUp Bagels gets its name from the fact that it did just that - "popped up" - during the pandemic with bagels sold from the home of founder Adam Goldberg in Westport, Connecticut. The first permanent brick- and-mortar location opened in Connecticut in 2023 and was later followed by additional units in Connecticut and New York.
The company, which proudly claims to be "not famous but known," officially launched franchising in November 2024, and according to a July release, has signed 300 franchised units with 15 operators and expects to reach 100 locations open and operating by the end of 2027. The PopUp Bagels website indicates that there are currently 21 units open and two more, aside from those in Atlanta, "opening soon."
Investment by New York-based private equity firm Stripes is fueling the company's expansion, but actor Paul Rudd, Olympic champion Michael Phelps, and former NFL stars Michael Strahan and JJ Watt are also investors.
Interestingly, PopUp already has ties to Atlanta, with Tory Bartlett previously in executive roles with Moe's Southwest Grill and Schlotzsky's, and formerly CEO of Southern Proper Hospitality (Tin Lizzy's Cantina, Gypsy Kitchen, Southern Gentleman, etc.), the bagel shop's CEO. According to his LinkedIn, Bartlett joined PopUp as their top man in September 2024 and remains based in Atlanta.
Several things set PopUp Bagels apart (for better or for worse) from other bagel shops. For one, they work primarily off a pre-order system, which likely ensures that they limit overproduction by pre-selling product. Secondly, the eatery does not sell single bagels. Walk-in orders must be a minimum of three bagels plus a schmear for $13. Pre-orders, which the business strongly encourages to ensure preferred availability, must be for a minimum of a dozen bagels + two schmears. According to the company's website, a dozen bagels plus two schmears is $42, with other options including a greater quantity of bagels and schmears and also larger portions of butter and cream cheese to go, in addition to single serve drinks.
Also worth noting, the PopUp seems to offer just five varieties of bagels: plain, sesame, poppy, everything, and salt. Customers are encouraged to "Grip, rip, and dip" their bagels (neither slicing nor toasting are offered), but seating is uncommon at the chain's existing locations.
In addition to PopUp Bagels, Spread Bagelry is also slated to open in Buckhead. ToNeTo Atlanta first reported this past July on the planned market entry of the Philadelphia-based "Montreal-style" wood-fired bagel chain. The company has made plenty of headway renovating the former rotisserie chicken shop on Irby Avenue in the Buckhead Village, but it seems highly unlikely that it will open by the end of the year as they had originally hoped.
Have you been to PopUp Bagels? Do you think PopUp Bagels will find success along the Atlanta BeltLine? Who in Atlanta do you think makes the best bagel?
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