Bethlehem-based Goblies to hit Target shelves

A Bethlehem startup has landed a major deal to stock its product in Target stores nationwide as well as online. 

Mezzimatic LLC, is the creator of Goblies Throwable Paintballs and Play Paint, which are currently sold online and in- many stores around the country. 

But this new deal is a big step up for Goblies, which was first conceived by CEO Briana Gardell while getting her master’s in Technical Entrepreneurship at Lehigh University.  

She went from testing 26 different prototypes, to making them in her apartment kitchen, to canning them in SoBeCoWorks, moving to Pi: Partnership for Innovation, selling in Michaels Stores, to finally landing on the shelves of Target – a Top 10 retailer in the United States. 

“It is so exciting to have Goblies products in Target” said Gardell. “We’re in stores just in time for Easter, so hopefully we’ll be another Bethlehem based product that will be in Easter baskets – just like the iconic PEEPS.” 

Gardell is getting support from the community. 

“This is exciting news for Briana, Target, and Bethlehem” said Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds in a release. “We still remember when Briana was working on the product while enrolled at Lehigh. We invested funding and resources through our KIZ Program soon after she created her startup company because it was apparent that she has the personality and determination needed to grow a business. We couldn’t be happier to see Goblies in Target stores nationwide.”