Magnolia Bakery, the spot that originally opened in 1996 on Bleecker Street and began making cupcakes using leftover cake batter, often gets credited with igniting the “cupcake craze” of the ’90s. While others came and went, most notably Crumbs Bake Shop, Magnolia has continued to expand with more than 25 locations across the U.S. and abroad.
This sweet success got the attention of Stephen Ross, a key figure in the Hudson Yards development. Ross is the chairman of real estate development firm The Related Companies – and the co-founder of venture capital firm RSE Ventures, which acquired Magnolia earlier this year, the WSJ reports. The price of the acquisition was not disclosed. RSE Ventures also has a stake in food brands Momofuku and Milk Bar, which both have locations on the Upper West Side.
Magnolia has had its fair share of pop culture accolades over the years, being featured on “Sex and the City,” “Saturday Night Live,” and films including Prime and The Devil Wears Prada starring Meryl Streep and Anne Hathaway.
Steve Abrams, Magnolia’s owner, told the WSJ that the decision to sell was driven in part by the challenges of trying to expand the brand without significant additional capital. “There was a lot of money needed that we didn’t have,” said Abrams.
Higgins and Lloyd say they aren’t concerned that the cupcake craze has passed its peak, noting that Magnolia has long touted a broad line of products and has put a special emphasis in recent years on its banana pudding (and unique limited-edition spins on the classic offering – my favorite being the Billionaire Banana Pudding they did with Monopoly).
Photo credit: Magnolia Bakery
In April, Magnolia announced the opening of a new location at 1794 Broadway between 58th and 59th Streets. This has done little, however, to shorten the line at the shop on 69th and Columbus Ave, which sometimes stretches around the corner and down the street. It appears Magnolia has emerged as a cornerstone local favorite and tourist destination wherever it stands … for now.
countdown 3 2 1 until the said venture fund reduces quality of ingredients and expands too quickly to squeeze the most money out of it and ruins it.
Agree with JJ – they will wreck it but not before they bleed it.
The original Magnolia had Private Equity investment prior to its initial expansion. Quality went downhill many years ago when they expanded, but the people keep coming.
I always felt it was over-rated.
“Sex and the City” gave global prominence to a local bakery. VC buyout is usually the death knell.
And the founder of Magnolia sold out years ago. So the chain, which was sold out to VC, is someone else’s and they were looking to franchise already before the virus.
Before the pandemic, the management of the Columbus location really didn’t care about customers blocking the sidewalk on a busy Saturday, and a senior manager for the company went so far as to lie and claim I was seeing customers waiting for a table at the Mexican place 40 feet to the north up Columbus.
It was already an unpleasant chain, can’t imagine that VC monies will help.