BabyCakes NYC owner on cover of Inc.



The latest BabyCakes NYC newsletter has news of their Summer of Love 2008 t-shirts, a cookbook coming out from Clarkson Potter in 2009, as well as the Inc. magazine cover story featuring owner Erin McKenna. For those interested in the business side of cupcake bakeries, do check it out - at the end is a "Reality Check" section that mentions a much-discussed topic here, the fact that several other bakeries are called BabyCakes. And apparently the Los Angeles Babycakes is still in the works.

"The Get Ahead Guide: Erin McKenna Makes the Best Cupcakes in New York City," Aviva Yael, Inc.

The founder: McKenna, 32, grew up in San Diego, the 10th of 12 children in her family. A few years ago, she was working as a fashion assistant at Budget Living when she was found to have wheat allergies. Unable to find a vegan bakery that could satisfy her sweet tooth, she decided to start her own, on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Her friends in the fashion world helped her generate buzz. Wendy Mullin of Built by Wendy, a trendy clothing label, designed BabyCakes' uniforms, and Earnest Sewn, a hip denim line, is partnering with McKenna to share costs as both businesses expand to L.A.

The numbers: Founded in late 2005 with $85,000 in seed capital, BabyCakes NYC broke even after only seven months. Last year, sales hit $690,000. This year, the company will gross $1.2 million, according to McKenna, with gross profit of $497,000 and net income of $100,000. That's pretty good, given that, as with most food businesses, BabyCakes' markup on specific items is low. Each cupcake, for example, costs $2 to produce and retails for $3. Next year, with a second store open in Los Angeles, McKenna projects sales of $1.8 million.


See also: Our cupcake interview with Erin McKenna (from way back in August of 2006!)

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