PopUp Bagels — the Westport start-up that popped up during the pandemic, roared into regional and now national prominence, and has clearly outgrown its motto — “Not famous, but known” — is in the headlines again.
Bloomberg reports that Tiger Global has agreed to invest — at a $300 million valuation.
That’s “roughly 5 times what the startup was quoted at as recently as 5 months ago.”
“The buzzy bagel brand races to turn its TikTok-fueled hype into a national presence,” Bloomberg adds.
It describes the brand as developing “a cult-like following around its smaller, fluffier bagels, sold in limited flavors with a minimum order of 3.”
PopUp Bagels plans to open up to 300 locations across the US in the next 4 years.
The 30th store opens Friday in Chicago. Number 31 follows the next week, in Dallas.
Click here for the full Bloomberg story.
PopUp Bagels founder Adam Goldberg, with his Brooklyn Bagelfest award.
==================================================
Sustainable Westport’s UnPlastic Westport initiative is bearing fruit.
Donations have already funded 2 public water bottle filling stations: one at the Compo Beach basketball courts, the other at Winslow Park. Both will keep tens of thousands of plastic water bottles out of landfill.
Rendering of the water bottle filling station at Winslow Park …
Five more “priority locations” have been identified:
- Burying Hill Beach
- Old Mill Beach
- Grace Salmon Park
- PJ Romano Field
- Town Farm Little League fields.
Three “wish list locations” — requiring more logistical planning — are the Wakeman Fields, Longshore and downtown.
The cost and installation of each station ranges from $5,000 for an in-wall unit, to $15,000 for a standalone, ADA-compliant one.
Sustainable Westport seeks individual donors, and corporate sponsors. Click here to contribute, and for more information.
… and the Compo Beach basketball courts.
=================================================
“Love + War” — the remarkable documentary about the professional and personal lives of Pulitzer Prize and MacArthur fellowship winner (and 1991 Staples High School graduate Lynsey Addario — has been nominated for 4 Emmy Awards.
The nominations include the biggest category — Best Documentary — along with others for Outstanding Editing, Outstanding Sound, and Outstanding Promotional Announcement.
Addario congrats her team — including National Geographic — and adds, “It took me years to feel comfortable letting a film crew into my life. Even then, it never felt entirely natural as someone who’s usually behind the camera, not in front of it. So thank you to our cameramen.”
She cites their “gorgeous (and subtle!) cinematic eye (and) powerful footage from Ukraine, often shot while under fire.
“It’s been amazing to share this film with so many different people across the world. I hope ‘Love + War’ continues to stand as a testament to a profession that became my calling, while also being clear-eyed about the complexities and sacrifices that come with it.”
Winners will be announced at Lincoln Center on May 28. “Love + War” can be streamed on Hulu and Disney+.
===============================================
As models get fitted, styled, and practice their runway strut, a few tickets still remain for “Fashionably Westport.”
The Westport Downtown Association-sponsored evening (April 25, 7 p.m., Westport Library) is a benefit for Homes with Hope. It features an actual runway, with friends-and-neighbors models from all over town, wearing outfits from over 20 local stores.
(Spoiler alert: One of those models is yours truly. Please don’t laugh — but please come to the show!)
The evening includes plenty of food, and a great silent auction. Click here for tickets, and more information.
===============================================
A full crowd packed the VFW last night, for a very special show.
Corky Laing — the former drummer for Mountain (of “Mississippi Queen” fame) — sat in with Gary Shure’s 10$Grand Band.
From the first chords, the place rocked. Do you know what I mean?
From left: Joe Whelan, Ray Schmidt, Corky Laing, Gary Shure, Ronnie Roberts, Michael Bertholf.
==================================================
More ospreys — and not the well-known Fresh Market ones.
This pair nests at the north end of Sherwood Mill Pond.
Are they surveying the scene? Planning dinner? Thinking about starting a family?
Whatever the answer: They look very intent doing it.
(Photo/John Kantor)
==================================================
Besides the ospreys, there was another sign of the season yesterday — a (finally) warm and sunny spring Sunday.
Boats and other craft headed to Cockenoe Island, off Compo, by the — well, boatload.
(Photo/Carrie Kuhn)
==================================================
Westport native and Korean War veteran Donald Switter died on Wednesday. He was 92.
He was studying architecture at the University of Connecticut to study architecture, but while drawing up plans realized his true love was outdoors.
Don pivoted, and started a landscape company. For years, he was one of the town’s top landscapers.
Many residents knew him as the man riding in a Jaguar convertible, with his English setter Mike by his side.
Don is survived by his sister, Phillis Fox of Unicoi, Tennessee; brother James of Winchendon, Massachusetts, and many nieces and nephews.
Don Switter
===================================================
It’s been a while since we’ve had deer in our “Westport … Naturally” daily feature.
These 2 look like they need a good meal.
(Photo/Richard Fogel)
Lucky (for them): Growing season is upon us.
Unlucky (for us): They’ll soon be chomping on our plants.
==================================================
And finally … on this date in 1742, George Frideric Handel’s oratorio “Messiah” had its world premiere in Dublin.
If you’re free for the next 2 1/2 hours — enjoy!
(Hallelujah! “06880” is your 24/7/365, hyper-local go-to blog — “Where Westport meets the world.” We rely on reader support. Please click here to donate. And thank you!)
Anything that causes people not to use plastic bottles for water other than from our Town water sources, assuming the cost is not excessive, is a wonderful.
Pop Up Bagels has arrived just three blocks from my home here in New York City. Locals are a bit confused by the “rip and dip” bagel presentation, but they’re lining up anyway.