Supposedly Crumbs went out of business because they couldn’t make any money. What does your source suggest that Crumbs’ management should have done?
20 or so regular flavors, half a dozen gluten free flavors, same number of cake pops.
I’m usually the only one that eats them there, but in the 10 minutes or so I savor one, at least half a dozen people are in and out. Of course, I almost always only go at the end of the workday is it’s probably a bit more populated than usual.
Looking back at it what I wrote was kind of silly. Obviously Crumbs couldn’t sell enough cupcakes and that’s why they went out of business. Most business that go under fail because they don’t attract enough customers to pay the bills. But why did Crumbs fail to sell enough cupcakes? Partly because the management of Crumbs failed to adapt to a changing retail environment with the increased competition for the cupcake consuming customer. They tried to introduce salads to their locations, but, seriously, who the hell goes to a pastry shop for a salad? Maybe management should have diversified the products they offered. Places like Dunkin’ Donuts certainly don’t have trouble selling stuff. Maybe part of the problem was one quality. They had a partnership with Starbucks to sell Crumb’s products alongside coffee but customers were dissatisfied with the product.
Edit: I guess what I’m getting at is that it might not be the cupcake fad that’s crashing. It’s just that Crumbs made some bad management decisions that led to them going out of business.
And the ultra-specialized Sandvich shop! they only sell that one style"Edible Device"
Cupcakes to beyond retail. In DC, Georgetown Cupcakes have been the “it” thing to have at both corporate and social events. They also do good business as gifts, and are given in some sets much like flowers.
Oh. Blow dry bar.
Well, that was a major disappointment.
And that right there is my vote for the next fad to disappear. There aren’t enough actual celiacs in the world to sustain it, and eventually all the folks with the imaginary gluten sensitivities and allergies will move on to the next weird food fad. All of these companies making gluten-free stuff will vanish overnight.
I should note this isn’t some permanent situation. Having a food truck come to your event seems to be the new it thing. And no doubt something new will come about soon.
I thought it was made up. There’s even one in my neighborhood. What the hell?
There had been **three **all within a mile of my apartment which have all closed recently. There are still 13 in Manhattan alone. I really liked the brownie cupcake. Sometimes they had a certain flavor on sale for a week for just $2.75.
I do think the huge cupcakes were kind of missing the point. Bakeries already have a product that fills the “I want something like a cupcake, only bigger” niche… it’s called cake.
Honestly, this is kind of like those places where you could go in and make/par-cook a weeks worth of “quality” meals all at once and take them home to freeze and finish off quickly the rest of the week. It’s not a completely unreasonable idea, but once someone has some success with one, they suddenly spring up like weeds until most, if not all of them, collapse.
Cupcakes are alright. It’s not that surprising that a business that focuses on one faddish food went under once the craze started to recede, but it’s not like all cupcakes suck. The ones at Magnolia Bakery are delicious.
My favorites are the ones at Sugar Sweet Sunshine in the LES. Cheaper than Magnolia too, $2 each.
But it’s sounds less piggish if you only have one cupcake rather than one cake.
No one needs to know they’re nearly the same size. 
Wonder how long till the glut of those self serve yogurt places start to go under?
Oh yes.
And also those “combine obscure fruit/vegetables into a disgusting looking and tasting drink” places.
In your country, but there have been cupcake and macaron places popping up in Italy or Spain, all trying to outsell each other and generally looking pretty deserted; I remember one time at work (about 10 months ago) someone was very excited because she’s learned to make kupkéiks and was going to bring some and you’ll see, they’re great! Next day she brings over a tray and the response was along the lines of “ok, so these kupkéik things, they’re small madalenas covered in colored frosting and with too much sugar? What’s wrong with madalenas now?”. Good stores to go get tea balls or fancy-shaped ice trays, mind you.
The problem is, no one knows how to eat a cupcake properly.
noms
What’s not to like?
Cupcakes are a stupid way to serve cake, that’s what’s not to like. The cake is attached to a piece of paper that you have to pull off, (causing half of the thing to fall apart onto the ground), so it gets all over your hands anyway, and makes the whole thing pointless. You were better off using a plate and fork all along.
For this reason, cupcakes are one of the most annoying things mankind has ever invented.*
*Muffins would achieve the same annoyance, but they are structurally somewhat more sound, (and they don’t have bad frosting to cause a mess).