
Crumbs Bake Shop was a
bakery chain headquartered in
New York City. Founded in 2003 as a small
mom-and-pop style bakery on the
Upper West Side of
Manhattan by Mia & Jason Bauer, the company expanded to 79 locations in ten states (
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
,
Illinois,
Virginia,
Connecticut,
New Hampshire,
Massachusetts,
New Jersey,
Rhode Island,
Maryland, and
California) and
Washington, D.C.
Crumbs was the largest cupcake chain in the United States.
It produced more than 50 varieties of gourmet cupcakes.
Crumbs reopened on October 14, 2014 at its Broadway location in New York and other locations after a three-month shutdown, and then closed all of its reopened stores permanently in December 2016.
Partnerships
On August 6, 2012, the company announced a partnership with
Starbucks
Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain.
As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...
to serve their brand of coffees, teas, and other assorted beverages. The partnership ended in September 2013 due to a sharp decrease in sales and customer satisfaction.
On May 15, 2013, the company announced it had partnered with chef and restaurateur
David Burke to begin marketing a new line of gourmet sandwiches and salads to be sold at select Crumbs locations. This partnership ended roughly a month later due to poor sales.
On September 13, 2013, the company announced the planned opening of their first ever gluten-free store in
lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan (also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York) is the southernmost part of Manhattan, the central borough for business, culture, and government in New York City, which is the most populated city in the United States with ...
. Crumbs Gluten Free featured the same cupcakes, cookies, brownies and pastries that the brand is known for in gluten-free versions.
On February 4, 2014, the company announced a partnership with Pelican Bay Ltd. to create a line of At-Home kits, including Crumbs Cupcake mixes, hot chocolate kits, cupcake-in-a-mug kits and "Colossal" cupcake kits. The line was sold at club and craft stores across the country.
The company shut the doors for customers on December 19, 2016.
Financial status
Crumbs Bake Shop, a publicly traded business listed on
NASDAQ
The Nasdaq Stock Market () (National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations Stock Market) is an American stock exchange based in New York City. It is the most active stock trading venue in the US by volume, and ranked second ...
, reached its peak stock price in 2011. A one-time loss of US $700,000 due to Hurricane Sandy in combination with steadily declining sales due to competition from locally owned mom-and-pop cupcake shops as well as increased competition from grocery stores, caused a sharp decline in the company's prospects and stock price in 2013.
Crumbs borrowed $10 million through convertible promissory notes and announced plans to close some underperforming stores in 2013.
On July 8, 2014, the company announced it was immediately closing all of the remaining locations and evaluated its options, including a possible bankruptcy filing. Crumbs, which went public three years ago at the height of the gourmet-cupcake boom, has seen its financial outlook deteriorate amid several years of losses, a dwindling cash supply, and a food craze that is petering out. The company’s stock was delisted from the NASDAQ Stock Market on July 1, a development that the company warned would trigger a
default
Default may refer to:
Law
* Default (law), the failure to do something required by law
** Default (finance), failure to satisfy the terms of a loan obligation or failure to pay back a loan
** Default judgment, a binding judgment in favor of ei ...
on some debt payments.
Shortly after Crumbs closed its shops, an announcement was made that a deal had been reached to transfer the rights to the chain to an investment group including
Marcus Lemonis (of the
CNBC reality show
Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...
''
The Profit'') and
Fischer Enterprises. The group stated that their intentions were to rapidly reopen stores with more diverse offerings. As part of the agreement the existing corporation filed for
bankruptcy
Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...
, and court approval was needed to finalize the deal.
On August 26, 2014, Crumbs won court approval to start reopening its stores, intending to keep only about 24 stores open.
On October 14, 2014, Crumbs reopened its first shop in Manhattan.
Marcus Lemonis sold his interest in the Crumbs retail stores in September 2015, as the baked-goods venture wasn't performing to expectations.
In April 2016 the value of Crumbs stock had fallen to less than $.01 per share. In December 2016, Crumbs Bake Shop once again closed all its stores, this time permanently.
References
External links
*{{official website, http://www.crumbs.com/
Bakeries of the United States
American companies established in 2003
Retail companies established in 2003
Food and drink companies established in 2003
Food production companies based in New York City
Publicly traded companies based in New York City
Upper West Side
2003 establishments in New York City
2014 establishments in New York City
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2014