I’ve got to say, this is one the most bewildering fads I have ever seen in my lifetime. Five dollars or ten dollars for a fucking “gourmet” cupcake. I mean, shit, I’m not the best baker in the world and I can make perfectly edible cupcakes. And if you want three inches of Betty Crocker canned frosting on top, hey, I can do that too!
And once the blow dry bar thing passes, all will be right again with the world.
I don’t see what’s so bewildering. Cupcakes are tasty. (Good ones, not the overly-sugary, artificial-flavored crap that only kids like.) They remind people of their youth. Now you can get them in lots of interesting flavors. What’s not to like?
I can make “edible” ice cream from cream, sugar, and vanilla in my home, but I still like to go to ice cream shops.
What I don’t get with these expensive cupcakes, which I admit liking and buying, is why they don’t do a seriously better job of frosting. If all you do is cupcakes, then I expect a damn amazing butter-cream frosting of various flavors. What I get is very good frosting, but I can do that at home.
Because people like you like and buy them the way they are, that’s why.
Every cupcake I’ve bought has had pretty amazing icing on the top, and cost between $2.50 and $3.00. It’s easy to rail against things when you use extreme examples.
Oh, no! If I had only known three years ago that there was a publicly traded chain of cupcake stores, I could have shorted it and made a fortune. There aren’t any sure things in investing, but one based on the premise that the cupcake craze was just a fad? That’s just free money.
I never even heard of this fad, or Crumbs, until the failure of Crumbs was all over the news.
And then there’s this:
And that’s even weirder. Just the other day I saw one of these in Center City Philly and thought it was a one-off by some deluded entrepreneur, perhaps financed with daddy’s inheritance. But apparently not.
Well here’s a listed companywith no revenue, no assets and a market cap of $3 billion for your consideration.
At least Crumbs had a real business for a while.
Bah, ninjaed, my post was a response to Greg Charles.
Crumbs failed because their cupcakes were lousy. But yeah, this is a fad that is on the decline. Only the really good, well run cupcake places are likely to survive.
Indeed. I don’t go by our local cupcake shop often, but it’s $3.00 for one, and I’ve never had one I didn’t like. On a bad day, that can cheer me up right quick.
I first saw them in DC, where I live now. I thought they were some sort of thing that could only exist in a place like DC which has a lot of people with a lot of money to a)spend on something wacky and b) afford the startup cost for a business selling something wacky. Then I went back to visit Philadelphia, where I’m from, and I saw one there! After that I accepted the fact that I’m just not meant to understand certain things.
Dot Com 2.0?
I think it’s those two words: social media.
Hey if it’s a social media company, it’s going to be the next Facebook or Twitter! :rolleyes:
I’m curious, how crowded are your cupcake shops? Lots of customers, lot of choices? Do they sell other baked goods?
I think the really good, well run cupcake places will start selling a lot more coffee, croissants and bottled water at some point; probably in the not too distant future.
Nah. You and I are the only ones who do understand things. Everyone else spends their money on overpriced cupcakes and blow drying. (And “social media” companies with no revenue or assets).
Pretty crowded, lots of flavors, nothing other than cupcakes.
Of course, I probably go inside a cupcake store once or twice a year. My wife brings them home every now and then from work.
ETA: Crowded isn’t the right word. Steady, would be a better description.
I’ve bought cupcakes from a couple of those specialist shops on a few occasions in the past. They were beautifully presented and very enticing (of course!), but I always found them quite disappointing: stodgy cake and bland icing. I realised that I was basically just paying for the appearance. And they were very expensive for what you get.
So I haven’t bought any cupcakes for a number of years now. And I’m sure I’m not alone.
the firm is reorganizing.
coming soon
Muffins
Supposedly Crumbs went out of business because of poor management and not because they couldn’t sell enough cupcakes.