A phoenix has risen from the ashes and its name is Crumbs Bakeshop.
The New York-based cupcake chain, founded by Jason and Mia Bauer in 2003, holds the distinction of being the first and only publicly traded cupcakery. When it debuted on the Nasdaq in 2011, Crumbs numbered 34 stores in six states and envisioned 200 stores by 2014. Instead of growth, there was decline. The cupcakery declared bankruptcy and closed nationally in July 2014. According to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing, there were 58 Crumbs locations in 12 states as of May 2014. Two months later, the lights were off from coast to coast.
This triggered overgeneralizations about the state of the cupcake industry, turning one high-profile failure into a categorical indictment. Media outlets wrote cupcakes’ obituary, many with cynical tones. Game over, they said. Bubble burst. Market: 1. Cupcakes: 0.
To paraphrase the misquotation, reports of cupcakes’ death were greatly exaggerated. With little media coverage, capitalists have been making bullish investments in cupcakeries.
This autumn, the Bauers announced they had repossessed the Crumbs brand. Fans were advised to stand by for news. Today brings the initial details of Crumbs’ return:
- No retail stores, but national shipping of cupcakes and a forthcoming cookie line
- Same-day New York City delivery through third-party apps
- Coming in December to local and regional supermarkets: Foodtown, Westside Market, Fairway, Kings, and ShopRite for starters with national expansion planned
The defiant resurrection affirms the endurance of cupcakes as the little engines that can. Let’s revisit the score. Cupcakes: ∞. Cynics: ∆.
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Timeline of Crumbs Bakeshop
2003: Jason and Mia Bauer open the first store on Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Reflecting almost a decade later, Mia Bauer tells New York Family magazine, “My expectations were very simple, and they came to fruition immediately. The goal was to have a neighborhood bakery where I knew everybody and their kids, and I made all their birthday cakes.”
2009: Crumbs counts Katie Holmes, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Uma Thurman among the regulars at its growing national chain of cupcakeries, then numbering 22. Source: WSJ.
2010: Inc. magazine names Crumbs a breakout company of the year. As cupcakeries proliferate in New York City, nationwide, and worldwide, Cupcake Wars debuts on the Food Network. According to legend, a Food Network producer was driving down the Beverly Hills street on which Crumbs opened a store in 2007, two years and two blocks from L.A.-based Sprinkles’ groundbreaking 2005 cupcakery. This set up a real or perceived skirmish between competitors. Surveying the scene, the Food Network producer purportedly quipped about a “g-d cupcake war out here” and so arose the TV show.
2011: Crumbs merges with the 57th Street General Acquisition Corporation, an investment company that takes Crumbs public with a Nasdaq debut at $13 per share. Crumbs has 34 stores in six states. NYT / Reuters / Merger press release.
2012: The Bauers resign from Crumbs to pursue other interests.
2013: Focusing on Crumbs’ financials, the Wall Street Journal forecasts, “Forget Gold, the Gourmet-Cupcake Market Is Crashing.” Many media outlets follow suit, questioning “Is the Gourmet Cupcake Trend Finally Over?”
2014: Crumbs delists from the Nasdaq, signaling probable bankruptcy. Days after the company closes all stores, new investors emerge. TV personality Marcus Lemonis and Fischer Enterprises LLC form a joint venture Bloomberg defines as a “so-called stalking-horse, or lead, bid in a bankruptcy auction. The bidders have agreed to provide financing to the company during bankruptcy ….” Some stores reopen beginning in October. Bankruptcy sources: Bloomberg / WSJ. Reopening sources: WSJ / NY Daily News.
2015: Lemonis sells his interest in Crumbs while retaining rights to Crumbs cookies, ice cream, and candy. Marcuslemonis.com / NY Post / WSJ.
2017: Stores close pursuant a second and final bankruptcy, completed in January 2018. The company maintains a midtown Manhattan administrative office and takes online orders for direct-to-consumer shipping. Eater Boston.
2022: July – Bake magazine breaks the news of the brand’s return and the first posts appear on a new Original Crumbs Facebook page. Followers are encouraged to sign up for the newsletter on originalcrumbs.com. September – Jason Bauer makes announcement on LinkedIn. Other social media activity follows on Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok. Teasing fans with an Instagram countdown timer, Crumbs formally relaunches on November 3. Repossessing the brand achieves the goal Jason Bauer expresses in a 2014 New York Times profile: “We are hopeful that we will be somehow involved in Crumbs again at some point.”
Andrea Adleman | Cupcakologist 