The Wall Street Journal touted cupcake bakeries as saving the economy and providing jobs! We already know there are tons of cupcake jobs out there from our recurring cupcake help wanted ad feature (another one's coming soon) but this is great news for budding cupcake entrepreneurs and a perfect answer to the cupcake haters out there. It also says Sprinkles will be opening in New York by year's end. Then again, The Wall Street Journal likes to put cupcakes in their headlines; their piece about Jennifer Weiner's Fly Away Home Cupcakes Across America book tour was titled, "Chick Lit, Chinese and Cupcakes."
The latest unemployment numbers for New York City show that, while the labor market shrunk in June, the overall unemployment rate improved, partially fueled by growth in the restaurant and bar industry. And one of the main drivers of that growth? Little morsels of impossibly cute frosted sweetness.
“One segment of the industry that seems to be adding the most outlets is cupcake cafes. This could be a fad, or not,” Barbara Byrne Denham, chief economist at real-estate services firm Eastern Consolidated, wrote in a report Thursday.
Cupcake businesses big and small seem to back up Denham’s position. (Call it buttercream economics.)
From New York-based national chains like CRUMBS Bake Shop to small start-ups like Butch Bakery in Long Island City, the cupcake industry seems to be recession-proof. A cupcake truck that launched this year and Sprinkles Cupcakes, a popular West Coast chain, opens its first New York location later this year.
In the East Village, cupcake-centric bakery Butter Lane has grown from six to 20 employees in the past year and a half, said Pam Nelson, the owner.
“People still want a cupcake,” said Nelson. “I think it’s kind of an indulgence and the price point is still low. For three dollars people can buy something for themselves instead of spending 100 bucks on a dinner and still feel like they’re treating themselves.”
The latest unemployment numbers for New York City show that, while the labor market shrunk in June, the overall unemployment rate improved, partially fueled by growth in the restaurant and bar industry. And one of the main drivers of that growth? Little morsels of impossibly cute frosted sweetness.
“One segment of the industry that seems to be adding the most outlets is cupcake cafes. This could be a fad, or not,” Barbara Byrne Denham, chief economist at real-estate services firm Eastern Consolidated, wrote in a report Thursday.
Cupcake businesses big and small seem to back up Denham’s position. (Call it buttercream economics.)
From New York-based national chains like CRUMBS Bake Shop to small start-ups like Butch Bakery in Long Island City, the cupcake industry seems to be recession-proof. A cupcake truck that launched this year and Sprinkles Cupcakes, a popular West Coast chain, opens its first New York location later this year.
In the East Village, cupcake-centric bakery Butter Lane has grown from six to 20 employees in the past year and a half, said Pam Nelson, the owner.
“People still want a cupcake,” said Nelson. “I think it’s kind of an indulgence and the price point is still low. For three dollars people can buy something for themselves instead of spending 100 bucks on a dinner and still feel like they’re treating themselves.”
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