July 8, 2014

Crumbs Cupcakes is No More: A Lesson on Trends

For those that saw the falling trend of gourmet cupcakes, the news of Crumbs Bakery closing down shouldn’t come as a shock. Just looking back on articles from 2013 from the Business Insider and Forbes about the cupcake trend in general and what business insiders thought of it a year ago only shows how fragile food trends can be. Of course, hindsight is always 20/20, but some thought that the cupcake trend was here to stay forever.

I’m a believer that cupcakes in some form are here to stay, with their portability and bakers touting the cupcake’s ability to be custom designed for clients. But it is never a good idea to build a business model on a trend. Why are other cupcake eateries still going strong? Location is one, not over expanding – or getting bigger than your market can handle – is another, but the main key is to keep adapting for your customers. Just because the ‘cupcake trend’ is out, doesn’t mean the cupcake is out.

Read more about Crumbs Bake Shop closing and the financial implications from the Wall Street Journal:

Crumbs Bake Shop Closing Its Doors: Cupcake Chain Throws in the Towel, a Week After Nasdaq Suspension, Which Triggered Default by Sara Randazzo.

Crumbs Bake Shop Inc. notified employees Monday that it would be closing all of its stores at the end of the business day, a spokeswoman for the New York-based cupcake maker said.

“Regrettably Crumbs has been forced to cease operations and is immediately attending to the dislocation of its devoted employees while it evaluates its limited remaining options,” the company said in a statement to The Wall Street Journal. Those options could include a bankruptcy filing, the spokeswoman said.

Loosing a big pastry chain like that, nationally, is always a bitter pill to swallow, no matter if insiders saw it coming or not.