Viral PopUp Bagels chain plans to open 2 new Long Island stores

The bagel chain PopUp Bagels has taken TikTok by storm, posting hundreds of videos of manicured hands tearing up bagels, dipping them into various cream cheese flavors and topping them with pickles, caviar and even candy corn. 

PopUp Bagels' success in harnessing social media has helped it grow to nearly 30 locations across the country in six years, including on Long Island, CEO Tory Bartlett said.

The chain, which has one store in Roslyn, plans to open new stores in Westhampton Beach and Uniondale, as it and other companies turn to social media to attract new customers and boost business.

"We've always done a really good job of leaning into social media to get the buzz and take the energy from the shop and then transform it," Bartlett said. "It's a tool to help us communicate with our with our friends and guests."

On Long Island, PopUp Bagels is opening a new store in Westhampton Beach this summer, Bartlett said. The store will open in a roughly 1,200-square-foot space at 130 Main St.

Another store is planned for Uniondale, according to public documents, in 1,563 square feet at the Gallery at Westbury Plaza, Hempstead Town Industrial Development Agency documents show. PopUp Bagels declined to comment on the Uniondale store.

PopUp Bagels has 28 locations nationwide — 15 company-owned outposts and 13 franchise stores — but Bartlett expects that number to grow to 70 by the end of the year.

The company got its start during the pandemic, when founder Adam Goldberg started making bagels at his home in Connecticut, Newsday reported.

It opened a brick-and-mortar store in Manhattan's Greenwich Village in 2023, and gained traction that year and into 2024 via its TikTok account, where it has nearly 60,000 followers, with videos raking in millions of views. The chain opened its first brick-and-mortar Long Island store in Roslyn in 2024.

The Manhattan-based franchise company Fresh Dining Concepts will run the Westhampton Beach location, Bartlett said.

He said most PopUp Bagels stores employ around 15 staffers. The Uniondale location will have between six and eight employees, according to Hempstead IDA documents. The Gallery at Westbury Plaza receives tax breaks from the IDA, Newsday reported. 

Construction will begin on both locations after the chain secures permits from their respective towns.

Social media boosts business growth

Most businesses are now tapping social media as a marketing tool, said Fan Liu, an associate professor in the decision sciences and marketing department of Adelphi University’s School of Business.

Saturday Candy Co. owner Julia Brandt used the popularity of Swedish candy on TikTok and Instagram, plus her own videos, to gain exposure for her company, and plans to open a second location in Sayville in April, Newsday reported. 

Centereach resident Kayla Ramirez started Motel Matcha, a mobile matcha cart, in March. She said posting on Instagram, TikTok and local Facebook groups has helped her secure 22 bookings from local businesses, such as Pilates studios, who either invite her to events to sell matcha or pay her a flat fee to give away drinks to their customers.

“I use social media for everything,” Ramirez said. “I don’t know how I would get any of my bookings without it.”

Other Long Island businesses have seen sales spike through their own viral moments, such as the pickle sandwich at Seven Brothers Gourmet Food Market in Oceanside and the mozzarella stick tower at Robkes in Northport, Newsday reported.

“Social media is this powerful tool that companies of all sizes have available to really connect with potential customers in a very strategic and targeted way,” said Margaret Echelbarger, an assistant professor of marketing in the College of Business at Stony Brook University.

But Echelbarger, who teaches a class on social media marketing at Stony Brook, cautioned that businesses shouldn’t rely solely on online fame for their business, because, like a freshly baked bagel, it probably won’t last forever.

“Building a strategy around virality is not a sustainable one, because it's so random,” Echelbarger said.