This CEO Took a Cult-Favorite Bagel Brand National. Here's the Top Lesson He Learned. The fast-growing bagel brand took off — but its CEO says even simple concepts need infrastructure ahead of demand.
By Carl Stoffers Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- PopUp Bagels sold 300 franchise units in less than a year by offering a streamlined model with low overhead.
- CEO Tory Bartlett says his biggest lesson learned was initially waiting too long to hire support staff.
- The brand’s strategy focuses on granting large territories to a small number of hands-on operators.
PopUp Bagels has grown fast — 300 franchise units sold in less than a year — but even CEO Tory Bartlett, a brought in to oversee just such growth, can still learn lessons from the process. Although the rollout of PopUp Bagels stores has gone well, Bartlett told 91³ÉÈË there's one thing he would change if he could go back.
"I would've brought on resources sooner than I thought I needed them," he says. "It's tempting to wait, to try to time those hires just right. But if you believe in the brand, you need to invest in the people to support it — ahead of time."
Bartlett joined PopUp Bagels in September 2024, just as the brand — founded by Adam Goldberg — was preparing to franchise. The model was simple: limited hours, no seating, no soda machines or fryers and a rotating menu of high-quality bagels and "schmears" —spreads — that generated social media buzz and long lines. The low-overhead concept was designed to scale, and investors had big plans.
Still, as the first stores outside New York opened, Bartlett realized that lean operations only get you so far without the right infrastructure in place. "Anytime you do something for the first time, you're going to have bumps," he says. "But my lesson learned there was: If I had brought on the training person a little bit sooner, he could have worked some of these things out."
"If you're somebody that's introverted, we're looking for somebody else."
PopUp's approach to franchising has been unconventional by design. The company awards large territories to a small group of experienced operators who know their markets intimately and are committed to brand stewardship. "We want operators that have skin in the game," Bartlett says. "In our stores, you've got the music pumping; we're yelling 'Hot bagels!' If you're somebody that's introverted, we're looking for somebody else."
The model is working. With small footprints, low build-out costs and a menu that keeps operations tight, PopUp Bagels is scaling quickly. In addition to its seven New York , the brand has multiple stores open in Connecticut and Massachusetts. By the end of 2027, the company expects to have 100 PopUp Bagels open across at least 10 states, including California, Florida and Texas, reflecting its rapid national expansion and growing brand appeal.
But Bartlett says even a simplified, growing concept needs a strong support system to scale sustainably — and that means building the internal team ahead of demand. "Don't bootstrap it," he says. "If I was to rewind the tape, I would accelerate the timing I brought in those resources."
