Poppin’ Off was always going to be a success. The idea of creating Poppin’ Off came in September 2016, when Liz Smith and her husband, Mike Smith, were visiting Liz’s family in Sandusky, OH. Mike loved Liz’s cooking, and would often be heard over family dinners and the holidays telling her and everyone in earshot that her food is delicious. Mike’s comments, matched with Liz’s life-long passion for cooking and creating, came together to spark at just the right moment while sightseeing and visiting a town neighboring Sandusky. Mike said, “This is it! This is the business we can work on together. This would be such a great fit for downtown Troy.” 3 months later, on Christmas Day, Mike gifted Liz a commercial popcorn popper and a 50-pound bag of popcorn kernels. It was only a matter of days before Liz started to get to work crafting recipes for the future shop.
With a variety of recipes taste-tested and approved by family, the Smiths would later appear at various farmer markets and event pop-ups in the Troy area. A frequent stop, one of Poppin’ Off’s biggest supporters, was Lunch@4WMain, located in the Troy square. Poppin’ Off also made early appearances at the Miami County Home & Garden show and the Mum Festival. Appearing locally in different venues throughout 2017 helped the Smiths to build a strong and loyal fanbase early on. Between events, they would offer local pick ups of their popcorn from their in-home shop. Adopting social media early on was another great tool in staying connected with the Poppin’ Off fanbase.
In August of 2018, it was time to find a retail space. The Smiths scouted a beautiful storefront not too far from the square in Troy. Once they secured the location, they immediately began mapping out the store’s layout and working to get it opening day ready. On March 22, 2019, the big day finally came. The days leading into that Friday were met with lots of buzz. The Troy Chamber of Commerce, along with Mayor Michael Beamis, presented a community ribbon cutting ceremony to jumpstart the shop’s grand opening.
Poppin’ Off is located at 125 S. Market St. in Troy.