WASHINGTON -- And that's the way the cookie cupcake crumbles -- at least according to the Wall Street Journal. Citing Crumbs Bake Shop's dropping stock market value (under $1.40 a share today from a high of $13 a share in mid-2011) and announcement that this year's sales would be down 22 percent from earlier forecasts, the Journal makes the bold claim that the gourmet cupcake market is crashing.
Say it isn't so! D.C. is a cupcake-loving town, with a hit TLC series and a new cupcake shop opening seemingly every month.
Last summer, the Washington Post reported Georgetown's Sprinkles location was even installing a cupcake ATM, but right now we're still ATM-less (and unable to find anywhere else to satisfy our 3 a.m. cupcake cravings). An employee who answered the phone at the Georgetown Sprinkles store said that the cupcake vending machine is still coming but no date has been set.
Watch this video to see the Sprinkles cupcake ATM in action:
According to the Journal, "Crumbs in part blamed store closures from Hurricane Sandy, but others say the chain is suffering from a larger problem: gourmet-cupcake burnout." The paper notes that at New York's Magnolia Bakery, which first popularized the gourmet cupcake trend, "[s]ales are up over last year... [but l]ess than half of sales at the closely held company are cupcakes, which cost up to $3.50 each."
Before the bubble bursts, here's where Washingtonians go to treat a sweet tooth.
