Steel City Pops Expanding to Georgia, Opening Decatur ‘Kitchen Store’

UPDATE (August 7, 2019): Steel City Pops Is Looking To End Its Decatur Lease, Sell Assets For $250K

Alabama-based Steel City Pops is expanding to Georgia.

The purveyor of small-batch, handmade pops, has secured a deal to open a Decatur “kitchen store,” at 312 Church Street, Jim Watkins, owner of Steel City Pops, in a telephone interview this week told What Now Atlanta.

“Atlanta has been one of our most requested cities to open a Steel City Pops,” Watkins said.

“It’s a very large market and there’s room for several companies that provide pops. Our focus is on the store experience and creating an environment where people can gather together.”

Demolition last week began on the 3,500-square-foot Steel City Pops and construction is expected to take “12 to 14 weeks.”

Once complete, the Decatur Steel City Pops will have the capacity to manufacture pops for at least five additional Atlanta-area locations.

“We spent a lot of time in Atlanta looking around. It’s just such a big market. We would stay the night in an area and see what it was like and Decatur just really felt like a great first spot.”

Steel City Pops sources local ingredients and creates pops specific to the market where it’s situated. For example, in Dallas, where “chilies are very popular,” chilies can be found as an ingredient.

“We really try to create a community within our communities that is unique. There might be flavors that come out of our Atlanta kitchen that you won’t see in our other markets.”

Created in small batches from all-natural or certified organic ingredients, Steel City Pops has fruity, creamy, and cookie pops, all sweetened with raw, organic cane sugar and never artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives.

The menu also features vegan-friendly choices, and all of the pops are gluten-free and vegetarian.

Steel City Pops, which will celebrate five years in business May 19, 2017, has 16 locations across Alabama, Kentucky, and Texas, with five in development including the forthcoming Decatur outpost.