If things seem a bit sweeter in the Granite State, it's because seven cupcakeries-bakeries specializing in cupcakes-opened here last year. With flavors like Monkey Love (bananas and cream cheese) and Mudslide (Kahlua and chocolate drizzle), NH now boasts more than a dozen cupcake shops.
New Hampshire's baked-goods boom comes several years after the trend hit Los Angeles and New York City in 2007. Then came reality TV shows like Cupcake Wars.
Granite Staters are frugal. So how do these businesses survive selling gourmet cupcakes at $2.50 to $4 a pop when a Betty Crocker cake mix and frosting costs $4 and makes more than two dozen cupcakes?
Clyde Bullen, the man who brings customers cupcakes like The Sexy (red velvet and cream cheese) knows how. Bullen owns Clyde's Cupcakes in Exeter, which opened two years ago and has since become an area mainstay with a monthly average sales increase of 20 percent.
Bullen, who formerly worked in advertising, says it is important to develop a clear identity. His shop is known for its vibrant pink and brown color scheme, witty T-shirts, and splashed-all-over logo that resembles a franchise operation. Bullen also has a daily roster of 18-plus cupcake flavors, and is constantly changing the flavor lineup. You don't want to come across as a mom-and-pop store, he says.
The owners of Cupcakes 101 in Bedford agree. Customers are greeted by funky lime-green walls with a candy counter on one side and cupcakes on the other. But despite this playful feel, its owners take the business side of their sugary passion seriously. Andy Thibodeau and Kristen Morgan, both former accountants, bake 400 cupcakes on weekdays and 600 to 800 cupcakes on weekends and say sales have increased each month since they opened last October. Thibodeau says when the pair bought the space, it already had all the necessary appliances, which cut costs, and that all other start-up expenses will be paid off by November. Cupcakes 101 is open seven days a week, a rare feat for a cupcake shop given the amount of baking involved, but for Thibodeau, it's revenue first, rest later.
Like other bakers, Chelsea Stoddard, owner of Queen City Cupcakes in Manchester, is passionate. She knew she'd leave her job at an insurance agency in a heartbeat-but she did her homework first. I spent a year and a half doing research, she says, and opened last May. The work and patience paid off. When Queen City launched, it had lines going down the street and sales were crazy, Stoddard says. Since then, business has balanced to a volume she can better keep up with, and she's chosen to forgo regular hours and close when they've run out of cupcakes.
In some cases, a marketable niche can be the extra topping needed. Deb McCabe-Atamanchuk, founder of Bite Me Kupcakez, sells only gluten-free cupcakes, and fits baking in her home kitchen around a full-time job. Bite Me does not have its own store, but is sold at retailers like Instant Ambition in Merrimack, A-Market in Manchester and at farmer's markets.