NEW YORK CITY—So long, Crumbs, yet another example of a fad gone fast.

Founded on the Upper West Side in 2003 by a former EVP at Douglas Elliman who sold it to a public company in 2011, Crumbs is credited with launching the cupcake craze. It expanded rapidly and at one point was expected to have some 200 locations by the end of this year. It adapted to current tastes, including creating a version of the cronut and even opening an exclusively gluten-free unit (which celiacs like me appreciated).

Sales rose, but so did losses, reports the Wall Street Journal. A new CEO came aboard to turn the company around, but to little avail. After achieving a high of about 75 stores, it began shuttering units, and as of its last day of operation, had 48 stores in 10 states. It failed to meet Nasdaq requirements and stock trading was suspended on July 1.

Recommended For You

Want to continue reading?
Become a Free ALM Digital Reader.

Once you are an ALM Digital Member, you’ll receive:

  • Breaking commercial real estate news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
  • Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
  • Critical coverage of the property casualty insurance and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, PropertyCasualty360 and ThinkAdvisor
NOT FOR REPRINT

© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.