Cupcakes are worth a lot
This morning there was news about a cupcake IPO from Planet Money. I know this must come as a shock to those covering the food beat at the NYTimes since they thought the pie thing was the hot new thing. Pie very well might take over some day, but right now the cupcake craze is here to stay. NYTimes' Dealbook reports that Crumbs has an estimated annual revenue of $31 million and earnings of $2.5 million. Crumbs generates this type of volume from 34 stores. Seriously, are their cupcakes that good?! I've had them a few times and they were quite passable, but nothing to really get excited about. And now the owners of Crumbs stand to rake it up to 66 million dollars between cash and stocks? This just blows my mind.
I feel like this is going to provide more fuel for people who want to quit their day jobs and get into the food business. I think books like Heat gave food lovers the belief that it's possible. And now we have all these food trucks that lower the barrier of entry for food loving corporate slaves. Unless you're in finance, I'm not sure if normal people can toil away for seven years and see a multimillion dollar pay day at the end. And I don't know how much the likes of Alinea or Per Se is worth... but all that money just for a cupcake shop is ridiculous.
The older I get, the more I feel like it's impossible to under how the world works. It seems like the key to doing well in this country is to do something alright... you ain't even gotta be the best. Just have to do it good enough, and then expand like wildfire. And there's a payday at the end. There must be folks who cashed in when Krispy Kreme stock was all the rage. And now the doughnut's sun has set and the day for cupcakes is now. Seriously, what the fuck is the point?
(I invite you to follow me on Twitter so you can get more of my non-sense in another medium.)
In the last sentence, did you mean doughnut? Because if it is... them's fighting words, and you and I good sir, will have to engage in fisticuffs (for you have insulted the honor of my favorite group of pastries). The doughnut's sun will never set!
Nicholas
January 10, 2011 4:20 pm
^Now, now. Simply a typo. The 1st sentence of that last paragraph was meant to be "to understand how the world works". I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts though, omg. Glazed heaven...
hungryK9
January 10, 2011 10:51 pm
@Nicholas,
fisticuffs time!!! haha. Nah, I love doughnuts too. And I feel like donuts time as a food craze is over. It's definitely not on the same trajectory as the cupcake. I mean, just looking on food network's cupcake wars and lots of Crumbs stores... the same isn't happening for donuts.
@hungryK9,
Yea I still love a good original glazed from KK...
Danny
January 12, 2011 11:58 am
I pick donuts over cupcakes if it's yeast donuts (not as much of a fan of cake donuts).
Crumbs is successful for the same reason that Sarah Palin is popular: people are dumb and have no taste.
Ang
January 13, 2011 11:37 pm