Monday, July 14, 2014

Crumbs Bake Shop Getting Financing from Group of Investors, Will Reopen Stores

Last week we reported that a chain of cupcake shops closed all of its locations, though a couple of days later it looked like a group of investors may try to bring the chain back to life. Now we have learned that this has indeed taken place.

According to a post on the Business Wire site, Marcus Lemonis LLC and Fischer Enterprises, L.L.C. have joined together to form a new venture called Lemonis Fischer Acquisition Company, LLC, signing an agreement to provide funding to (and take over) the Crumbs Bake Shop chain. The post says that the new privately-held company will continue to be called Crumbs and that the stores will reopen, though it does not say if all of the stores will reopen (as soon as we find out, we will post an update here). As mentioned in the earlier article here, it looks like the new Crumbs shops will offer more than just cupcakes in order to "broaden its appeal to a larger customer base," according to Fischer Enterprises C.O.O. Scott Fischer.

[August 22 update: Eater National is reporting that Marcus Lemonis has won his bid for Crumbs, with the New York Post stating that the chain is slated to come out of bankruptcy on August 26. (And as stated earlier, the new shops will offer other items in addition to cupcakes.) Thanks to @FoodserviceEast for bringing this to our attention.]

[October 15 update: International Business Times mentions that 26 location of Crumbs (including in Boston) will be opening in the next 30 days, though it does not specify whether all three Boston-area stores will reopen.]

The New York-based Crumbs chain once had as many as six shops in the Boston area, though only three remained when the chain shut down last week--one on Federal Street in Boston's Financial District, another at the Prudential Center in the Back Bay, and a third at the Natick Mall in Natick.

The website for Crumbs Bake Shop can be found at http://www.crumbs.com/

[Earlier Article]
Crumbs Bake Shop Closes All Of Its Locations