PopUp Bagels’ Secret Recipe for Viral Success in NYC and Beyond

“Appreciate you.” This phrase might seem like a simple way to thank customers on their way out, but PopUp Bagels in New York City knows it’s much more than that. The bagel shop prioritizes every customer interaction while serving thousands of dozens of fresh, fluffy bagels every week, which founder Adam Goldberg believes can leave a lasting impression and even make someone’s day.

Yelp reviewer Amanda R. was one such customer who felt the small interaction made a big impact. “They just said, ‘Appreciate you.’ It felt so genuine. It made me feel like they truly appreciated me being there, and it was a really short interaction, but it was very sweet — and the bagels were amazing,” she says.

This culture founded on community care made the bagel shop go viral. A customer waited an hour at the shop for her friend to arrive, and one of the staff gave her a free bagel to snack on. The next morning, all of the store’s social media accounts were blowing up. It turns out that the customer was a major food influencer and posted about this act of kindness. Influencer or not, this is just how PopUp Bagels treats people, Goldberg says.

“We like to take care of our customers [and] take care of our community that shows up for us,” he says. “We always treat every person in our store like they’re an influencer, and we treat every person in our store knowing every bagel that goes out is probably going to be photographed and wind up online.”

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Marketing and social media have been key to the store’s success. From the sign outside with the slogan “Not famous but known” to how the bagels are served on a large cup of cream cheese, each element of the customer experience compels customers to snap a photo and share it before leaving.

Goldberg always knew his bagels were photo-worthy, but he didn’t know how to build a brand out of it when he started. That’s when he reached out to one of his investors with branding expertise to create the bagel aesthetic captured all over social media today.

Goldberg says being able to consult with experts and build partnerships is essential for business growth. For example, he consulted with a seasoned production specialist to handle logistics and production once the business was profitable and it was time to scale. When it was time to open up shop in new cities, that meant hiring more staff and being on top of scheduling, so he hired a retail operations veteran to manage the transition. He said it’s all about having the humility to hire where you lack knowledge.

“A lot of [knowing when and how to grow] is knowing what I can do and what I can’t do,” he says. “It’s so important to let the people who are great at what they do, do what they do.”

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With a team of experienced professionals at his side, it was up to Goldberg to make the larger decisions about pricing strategy and building the business model. A major part of his plan involved assessing the market to strike a balance between profitability and customer satisfaction.

“I worked backwards,” he says. “What’s a price that someone is willing to pay, max or minimum, for it to be feasible for us to sell it and feasible for them to buy it? We decided that three bagels and a schmear for $12 was a good value.” The math checked out; three bagels and a schmear was a win-win for customers and for the business.

But business profitability doesn’t stop at maximizing revenue; it’s just as important to minimize costs.

“The biggest waste in the food world is when you have a menu that’s too big and you have too many products,” Goldberg says. “And the one thing I never really want to have is a waste cost. You’re always going to have something, but I don’t want that number to be 20%. I want it to be 1%.”

To minimize waste, it all goes back to supply and demand. Goldberg only supplies a handful of high-demand schmears to ensure the product is leaving the shelf. And the economics of minimizing waste works; bagels and schmear are flying off shelves. Even at maximized efficiency, PopUp Bagels always has a line out the door.

On a weekday at 11 a.m., Amanda says the store was still bustling. “Part of me is thinking, I’m so hungry. How am I going to wait in this line? Then the other part of me is like, Okay, this really has to be good because there’s so many people here. So we pull up, get in line and literally before we knew what we wanted, we were already inside and ordering. It was so fast, so efficient. When you see the line, you’re like, There’s got to be something here that people love.“

And that special “something” New Yorkers keep returning for boils down to the bagels. “So crispy and toasted on the outside, very warm and soft on the inside,” Amanda says. “We walked down a few blocks, sat on a stoop and just took pieces of the bagel and dumped it in the cream cheese. We were on cloud nine. It was so good.”

From the kind exchanges with staff to the fresh-out-the-oven bagels, the best part of the experience is somewhat like the shop’s most popular bagel: everything.

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PopUp Bagels has scaled across the U.S. with 10 locations by following these core business principles:

• Make a moment with every customer. Whether it’s handing out a freebie while they wait or creating a moment of gratitude, small things can add up to long-term loyalty.
• Treat every customer like an influencer. You never know who might walk through the door, so consistently deliver top-notch service, not for the PR but because it’s authentic to your brand.
• Stick to your business model and know your limits. Profitability is key before scaling. Keep the business model clear, simple and beneficial to both the business and the customer to ensure operational efficiency and profitability.
• Hire smart and acknowledge when you need help. Be open to bringing in experts in areas you lack knowledge to help your business achieve the best results. Above all else, treat employees respectfully and empower them to create a positive customer experience.

Listen to the episode below to hear directly from Goldberg and Amanda, and subscribe to Behind the Review for more from new business owners and reviewers every Thursday. Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Pandora and Soundcloud.

Editorial contributions by Erin Palmero and Kristi Lindahl