The Food Network may air a show called Cupcake Wars, but when it comes to dramatic rivalries with his competitors in the increasingly crowded cupcake-store sector, Jason Bauer will have none of it.
"I've never had a bad cupcake in my life," says Bauer, CEO and co-founder of the 34-unit Crumbs Bake Shop, when asked about how his cupcakes stack up against those from stores like New York-based Magnolia Bakery or Beverly Hills, Calif.-based Sprinkles Cupcakes. "The more people in the category, the better it will be for the category."
Granted, Bauer has good reason to be gracious. The company he started in 2003 with his wife, Mia, as a single bake shop in New York's Upper West Side, now claims to be the largest U.S.-based retailer of cupcakes. Crumbs is being purchased for $66 million by 57th Street General Acquisition, which in turn plans to take it public, listing it on the Nasdaq as early as next month. After that, explains Bauer, Crumbs plans to expand to about 200 stores by the end of 2014, and as many as 600 stores thereafter.
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