Innovation zone beneficiary Mezzimatic LLC of Bethlehem has struck a major deal with Target Corporation. Target will carry the company’s flagship product Goblies Throwable Paintballs and Play Paint online and in-stores nationwide.

The company has come a long way since the idea for Goblies was first conceived by CEO Briana Gardell. Gardell first worked on the product 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 Mezzimatic CEO Briana 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.”

“This is exciting news for Briana, Target, and Bethlehem” said Bethlehem Mayor J. William Reynolds. “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.”

Eligible companies are for-profit business entities that: 1) are located within the SBKIZ, 2) have been in operation for less than 8 years, 3) operate within one of the KIZ targeted industry clusters, and 4) are developing innovative technologies.

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