Red Velvet Cupcakery at 943 E. University Blvd. will serve its last cupcake this Saturday. The other Tucson-area location at La Encantada closed about six months ago.
Is this the beginning of the end for the cupcake fad in Tucson? It’s been on the slide in major cities across the country for awhile.
Personally, I’m a fan mini-desserts, and the creativity that many bakers put into cupcakes can be fun and, at times, quite beautiful. But paying $3.75 for a dessert that is chiefly frosting always stings a little, even if the cupcake in question is truly top-notch.
This article appears in Nov 3-9, 2011.
High rent locations and can only sell so many cupcakes.
Really…how may cupcakes did you expect to sell to cover that rent?
Adam: Have you tried the AZ Cheesesteak for Championships? Oh my lord, Frankie has some competition
And what exactly does this statement fragment mean? “I’m a fan mini-desserts,”
I will tell you precisely why this over-priced, low-demand little cupcake retailer has gone belly-up & closed:
They staunchly refused to give out samples! You tell me why I should buy a $4 cupcake without a sample? Not gonna happen. So let’s say the free samples cost them at maximum $1, and let’s say they give away a few dozen per day to get customers addicted to the wonderful little treats, and to get good will for a return visit. Monthly cost at the absolute max. = $750.
These cheap bastards refused to sample the cupcakes, and now they are deep in debt, have no way to pay all the back high rent, and the business model has failed…
It was a no-brainer…samples equals desire, equals purchase, equals paid rent, equals more locations. Stubborn cheap bastards deserve to close. End of story. Great cupcakes!! I will miss them. Too bad, so sad…bye-bye.