Justin Shugrue opened the first Shug’s on Mockingbird Lane near Southern Methodist University in 2020.
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Shug’s Bagels, which has earned renown in Dallas for its New York-style fare, is expanding to New Orleans as founder Justin Shugrue looks to establish a foothold outside North Texas.
He aims to open Shug’s Bagels in New Orleans’ Uptown area, near Tulane University, by spring 2025. If everything goes to plan and construction doesn’t hit any unexpected delays, the 1,500-square-foot store could open this April. Work began on the site at 7505 Maple St. in September.
Shugrue opened the first Shug’s on Mockingbird Lane near Southern Methodist University in 2020. He was 22 at the time and had just graduated from SMU, tapping a Small Business Administration-backed lo an through Wells Fargo to finance the store and using his mom’s house as collateral.
The 3,000-square-foot store on Mockingbird has found great success among college students seeking reprieve from their studies or craving sustenance after a long night. That momentum led Shugrue to open another store on Lemmon Avenue in the Oak Lawn area.
For his third store, instead of opening another location in the Dallas area, Shugrue is expanding to New Orleans to show an appetite for growth beyond just North Texas.
“I still very much look forward to doing that, and plan to do that to grow more in DFW,” he said. “But I felt that if I did that now, it would kind of feel like we’re just a DFW concept, and I think it was an important moment to set the tone for growth.”
Shugrue said his instincts led him to consider expanding to New Orleans. When scouting for properties in NOLA, he found a property he loved at a great price, which led him to quickly negotiate a lease.
“The landlord and I got along and we saw eye-to-eye on price and terms,” he said. “It just happened very quickly — it felt good and my gut told me it was the right move.”
He did not disclose the price for the deal or construction cost for the New Orleans store. It should hire about 20 to 30 people.
Additionally, there are many parallels between the forthcoming store and the original Shug’s location — they are both near colleges that boast a thriving student life. Shugrue said several people had messaged him saying his concept would also work well in New Orleans, where he also sensed a gap in the bagel market. While there are a few other bagel stores in the city, he aims to introduce a new flavor to New Orleans’ diverse dining scene.
Most Shug’s stores are open from 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily, but sometimes stay open at night to cater to college students. Shugrue said he also plans to operate “after hours” at the new location, which will keep the store open from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m. some days of the week.
When Shug’s first opened in Dallas, the number of bagel shops in the region was fairly limited. Since then, several have opened including Starship Bagel, Sclafani’s New York Bagels and Sandwiches and Bagelology in Frisco.
Shug Bagel’s is not necessarily looking to expand aggressively or even at all — Shugrue said he is only looking to open in places that don’t have ready access to the cuisine. He wants to avoid pigeonholing the company in a particular region, but so far the focus has been on the Sunbelt. Plans for a shop are also in the works in Austin’s Clarksville neighborhood, which is likely to open in late 2025.
“If there are customers in the United States or anywhere that feel this void, that want this cuisine, then we’re the ones that address it,” he said. “I don’t think there’s anybody really doing what we do.”
With future stores on the horizon, Shugrue said he hopes his bagel brand can bring a piece of home to transplants from the East Coast who have a passion for bagels. Shugrue hails from Westchester County in New York, where bagels are a robust and interal part of the culinary culture.
“I want to make sure that we feel like we’re adding to the community, and having a real artisanal baked product that’s locally made and really cared for,” he said.