Branding is everything at Snacks & Design, a new convenience store in Port Washington that soft-opened on Feb. 17.
The shop serves as both a marketplace for up-and-coming independent snack brands and an office for Andrew Bly, the company’s founder.
Located at 189 Main St., the same spot as the former Vincent Smith General Store and Computer Port, Snacks & Design offers specialty candy, sodas and sauces that curious snackers are more likely to discover on their TikTok feed than a Stop & Shop shelf.
“Some of my clients are only direct-to-consumer. This might be their first chance to be on a retail shelf,” Bly said.
Bly started renting the 500-square-foot retail space last December after working as an advertiser and designer for startup packaged goods in the basement of his nearby home for over three years.
Originally from Pennsylvania, Bly moved from Queens to Port Washington with his wife, Danielle, in 2021 so they could raise their then-new daughter Parker.
A physical storefront allows snack companies looking for Bly’s help to learn what package designs work on shelves while giving consumers a one-stop shop to find new brands.
Products for sale at Snacks & Design prioritize clean-label ingredients without artificial flavors or preservatives. Long Island-based Fresh Fizz Soda, a beverage whose brightly colored exterior Bly designed himself, substitutes artificial sugars with honey.
The local brand features flavors like sparkling mint lemonade, sparkling jalapeno limeade, and date cola.
Other brands Bly designed and features at his store are Fabalish queso, tzatziki, and ranch dipping sauces, which replace egg whites with a chickpea base, and 7 Kitchen Road’s seeded crackers.
While Bly sells products he designed, most of the snacks for sale at his store are independent brands with which he had no prior business ties. Each product also varies in name recognition and revenue.
Some, like Fabalish sauces, are still growing, while others like The Good Crisp Company chips, generate tens of millions in revenue and are found nationwide at stores like Target.
“There was a couple that came in that had one of Fabalish’s sauce packets, but they couldn’t find it anywhere, so they were like, ‘We saw you were selling Fabalish!’” Bly said. “It’s cool that people can discover stuff online and then come find it here.”
Bly was inspired to create Snacks & Design after learning about similar snack shops like Pop Up Grocer in Lower Manhattan and Monsoon Market in Arizona, whose owners advised on how to set up a physical retail store.
Bly also sought advice on the store layout from the owner of Snaxshot, a multi-platform social media account that features stories on new independent food companies.
Walking into the store, customers can browse for snacks and drinks along the wall to the left or peruse store-branded hats and shirts that will soon stock the eastern-facing walls.
In the last few weeks, Bly has spent entire days putting together every shelf, wall decal, and product. He even got a sunburn after focusing all of his attention on making the displays just right.
After working in product design for years, Bly opened his shop on Feb. 17. Word-of-mouth promotion on Facebook led to consistent crowds throughout the launch event.
“Monday was pretty busy,” Bly said. “It was a lot more than I had expected.”
Since soft-opening, Bly says brands have been flooding all of his inboxes requesting to get their merchandise on Snacks & Design’s shelves. While Bly says he can’t guarantee companies that their products will fly off the shelves, his store can provide an outlet to reach new customers.
“I’ve told many brands in my life, doing something new or doing something that stands out isn’t always gonna feel the most comfortable at first,” Bly said. “Now, I’m pushing myself in that sort of direction.”
Bly says the store will fully open in the next few months as he continues setting up shop. Store hours for Snacks & Design are 1 p.m. to 5 p.m., Mondays to Fridays, and 12 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays.
