By james art It’s hard to Zachary High School ninth-grader Bailey Galloway might believe it, but she’s standing behind the counter of her own specialty popcorn shop.
Three years ago, Bailey and younger sister Harper, 9, hatched Posh Pop, their then-predominantly online gourmet popcorn and special events business. After tirelessly selling sweet and salty small batches of popcorn while juggling school and extracurriculars, the girls and their business partner and mother, Ebony McAllister, opened a retail store in the Acadian Perkins Plaza shopping center.
The soft opening was last Thursday, October 24th.
Bailey, 14, says it’s a dream come true.
“Being able to say I have a shop is really cool,” she says. “I love him. I like interacting with people over the counter and being able to incorporate other things that aren’t just popcorn. For the longest (time), people were asking when we were going to open a store.”
Earlier this year, the trio had plans to open a brick-and-mortar location in Zachary. But that fell through, leaving them searching for another location through the spring and summer.
“We saw this location and fell in love with it,” says McAllister. The new store is next to Rice & Roux in the popular shopping center at Perkins Road and Acadian Thruway.
With an interior now splashed in hot pink and black, the store sells 14 flavors of popcorn for girls. There’s Coco Crunch, popcorn tossed with dark chocolate chip cookie pieces, brownie shortbread and milk chocolate drizzle; Power Up with walnuts, pecans, muesli and blueberries; Posh Limon, a mix of lemon cookie, pretzel and lemon drizzle; and many more, including flavor of the month.
Gourmet popcorn isn’t the only thing on the fancy carnival food menu. There are also frozen treats, baked goods, pastries, and a few savory items like hot dogs and nachos. The shop’s cheerful atmosphere has selfie walls and comfortable seating, inviting customers to relax and grab a bite.
The order counter borrows from traditional sweet shops, McAllister says.
“This first part gives you the classic feel of an ice cream parlor where you choose from 14 flavors,” says McAllister. Harper, a fourth-grader at Zachary Elementary School, holds the two sizes customers can choose from, a small bucket or a large tray. Customers progress down the counter, attracted by other treats.
“You may have come wanting one thing, but then you realize you want something else while you’re here,” McAllister says. “We wanted to be able to offer the best of both worlds and have the concept grow with the girls.”
Indeed, while McAllister used her experience in sales and marketing to guide her daughters, Posh Pop was their brainchild from the start.
It was inspired by a quiet night at home just before Christmas 2020 when the family was watching The Grinch and making homemade popcorn and cookies. A glut of chocolate-covered pretzels, sprinkles, and crushed cookie pieces seemed like a delicious addition to the salty popcorn. The girls started experimenting with different snack mixes and an idea was born.
“We sat down to watch the movie and I said to my mom, ‘This is really good.’ I think we have something. And then it kind of just blew up,” Bailey said 225 in February while manning the Posh Pop booth at an LSU Gymnastics meet.
This wasn’t a phase—the sisters meant work. A few days after their eureka moment, they had named the product and delivered a Shark tankpresentation in style of their mother clapping back with a Christmas gift of a company logo and branding package.
In 2021, Bailey and Harper tested new flavors and sold products online and at events like the Zachary Farmers and Artisans Market. By 2022, they had earned a spot as a youth business at LSU’s culinary incubator, Foodii, where they expanded production. This helped them find new markets, such as LSU Athletics events. They currently sell concessions at six different LSU sporting events, including home football games at Tiger Stadium. This fall they also added Southern University home football games to their lineup.
The girls say the three current best-selling popcorns are Cheesy Cheddar Bomb with caramel cheese, a new salted caramel flavor called Gold Rush, and Saturday Morning, a combination of popcorn, Fruity Pebbles, mini marshmallows and white chocolate.
Posh Punch and Posh Pup
Chic pop
The menu also includes gourmet Posh Pups (hot dogs), Posh Dogs (sausage po-boys) and pico de gallo cheese nachos.
Frozen desserts include the Ice Cream Po-boy, where scoops of ice cream are surrounded by an ice cream sandwich and topped with sprinkles and whipped cream. Huckabucks, the homemade frozen treat of sweet, flavored liquid frozen in a plastic cup, is also on the menu. Served at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival by Soul Food Catering Co. of Mrs. Linda (the Yaka Mein Lady) and popularized by home cooks in the Deep South, the treats have a cult following. Fans say they’re best eaten by carefully scooping out the chunk of frozen liquid and turning it over to chew the extra-sweet bottom half first. Posh Pop also sells scoop ice cream cones.
Many of the sweets in the case were made by other local small businesses, McAllister says. Choose brightly colored macaroons with multiple flavors, colorful cake pops, caramel dipped pretzel sticks, glossy sweet apples, baby pink cupcakes, pralines and dipped Oreos.
“We want to support other small businesses because we know the way,” McAllister says. The store also includes Leroy’s LipSmack’n Lemonade, another Foodii tenant and LSU Athletics vendor.
Posh Pop is located at 3617 Perkins Road, Suite 1F and is open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m.–6 p.m., and Sunday, noon–4 p.m. For more information, visit poshpop.shop.