Goodbye Crumbs

A few hours ago, I read on Twitter that Crumbs Bake Shop abruptly closed down all of its stores today. I knew they were having some financial issues, but I never thought they would shut down without any warning whatsoever. That completely sucks for their workers and it's certainly not going to help unemployment in this city...

I've had plenty of cupcakes from Crumbs over the years. Mini-cupcakes at work parties, afternoon snacks, free promotional cupcakes like one I got earlier this year for going to the Aerial America exhibit in Times Square. The cupcake craze may be over, but I didn't think they would just shut down everything all at once. I thought they would just close more of their stores, but I guess the stores were a lot less profitable than I thought. Crumbs was the only cupcake chain I really went to (not a fan of Magnolia, Sprinkles is not close by, and Baked by Melissa is so expensive for such tiny cupcakes), so this is kind of sad for me.

My favorite Crumbs cupcake was the vanilla coconut, especially in the mini size. The cake was always soft and fluffy, the icing wasn't overly sweet, and the shredded coconut was the best topping. If only they had publicized that they were closing even a day in advance, people could have gone to get one last cupcake and say goodbye. I know that I would have braved the 90 degree weather to get one more vanilla coconut cupcake and maybe an assortment of minis.

I remember reading a few months ago that BJ's was going to start carrying Crumbs cupcakes, so I don't know how this affects those sales. But even buying those wouldn't be the same as just stopping in to the store and picking up a cupcake on a whim. Goodbye Crumbs. Thanks for the cupcake memories!