Sprinkles is closing?

[Nayan]

https://www.wdwmagic.com/dining/spr...cation-reportedly-facing-imminent-closure.htm

 

[hardcorestitch]

Noooooooo!

 

[zackiedawg]

When I was there Dec 12 - 16, I was in Disney Springs most days and evenings, and there were only a handful of people at Sprinkles at any given time. I thought a few times it was closed as it looked so dead - but then I'd see one person inside. Meanwhile, Disney Springs was PACKED, Gideon's line was 100+ people long, and everything was buzzing. I get the feeling Sprinkles is fighting too many hip dessert spots in Disney Springs that are the 'it' places.

 

[gottalovepluto]

All Sprinkles nationwide are closing. Hit the news a few hours ago it looks like.

 

[Genie+]

I remember when this location was super hot. Since then came Gideon’s and Cake Bake Shop. The specialty cupcake wave crested a while ago.

 

[Nayan]

I hate to see places close, but there's so many other options at the Springs it's hard to compete in the desserts arena.

 

[LoveDaisy]

Looks like they are closing all locations.

Sprinkles to close all locations

 

[erinch]

I’ll miss watching Gracie Girl eat pup cakes on Paging Mr. Morrow

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I'm glad that we stopped by on our last trip. That makes me sad bc I love their cupcakes.

 

[hardcorestitch]

Be it a lesson to all: when you hear the words “Private Equity”, DON’T ACCEPT THE DEAL. This is what happens. Private equity is basically like a business landfill.

 

[AcusTwinhammer]

The company was founded in 2005, sold to a private equity company in 2012, and closed now. So it spent more time existing under private equity than it did with the original founder.

I know "private equity" is a big internet boogeyman word, but 13 years isn't exactly a "gut and sell the parts" scheme that people tend to think of with that term.

 

[imbelle]

I hadn't been to Sprinkles since they went cashless. Not charging a cupcake.

 

[hardcorestitch]

The company was founded in 2005, sold to a private equity company in 2012, and closed now. So it spent more time existing under private equity than it did with the original founder.

I know "private equity" is a big internet boogeyman word, but 13 years isn't exactly a "gut and sell the parts" scheme that people tend to think of with that term.

It’s still bad… in the long term…

 

[gottalovepluto]

I hadn't been to Sprinkles since they went cashless. Not charging a cupcake.

I’ll charge stuff under a $1 Leave no cc reward behind!!

 

[ChipTheRescueRanger]

Basic cupcakes at an inflated price was trendy 4-5 years ago. Im surprised it lasted so long to be honest.

It's also quite a nice size unit that is wasted by just being a counter.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Expensive? Sure. But certainly not basic cupcakes. We'll miss the location, which used to be a very popular spot. But like someone mentioned above, when we walked by in mid December, it was eerily empty, which we never used to see. We were concerned something was up. This was definitely a go-to spot for us many trips. We're not fans of Gideons and loved many of the Sprinkles flavors. Hopefully, they replace it with something fun and tasty. Very sorry to see the place closing......

 

[TwoMisfits]

I wonder, looking at the ingredients list for just their vanilla cupcake, if the 2026 removal of all artificial dyes was the straw that broke the camel's back (thus the 12/31 11:59pm national closure). Private equity doesn't remake the wheel, and having to redesign all the cupcakes to meet the new US health standards was something that financially they decided wasn't worth more than just closing and selling off the assets. I mean, they would already be struggling with labor costs vs sale per unit (high hourly wages per employee mean you want to sell a certain dollar value per transaction to stay profitable, and you can only charge so much per cupcake), the decreasing popularity of cupcakes and sugared products from their high, their corporate national but still limited reach, etc.

For the ingredient design, their vanilla cupcake had "may contain: fd&c blue #1 (e133), blue #2 (e132), red #3 (e127), red #40 (e129), yellow #5 (e102), and yellow #6 (e110))". Now, that's likely line residue possibilities from their other cupcakes, but this was spot checking the 1st cupcake listed...

 

[hardcorestitch]

I’ll charge stuff under a $1 Leave no cc reward behind!!

…or even 25 cents if you’re a DVC or AP!

 

[gottalovepluto]

I wonder, looking at the ingredients list for just their vanilla cupcake, if the 2026 removal of all artificial dyes was the straw that broke the camel's back (thus the 12/31 11:59pm national closure). Private equity doesn't remake the wheel, and having to redesign all the cupcakes to meet the new US health standards was something that financially they decided wasn't worth more than just closing and selling off the assets. I mean, they would already be struggling with labor costs vs sale per unit (high hourly wages per employee mean you want to sell a certain dollar value per transaction to stay profitable, and you can only charge so much per cupcake), the decreasing popularity of cupcakes and sugared products from their high, their corporate national but still limited reach, etc.

For the ingredient design, their vanilla cupcake had "may contain: fd&c blue #1 (e133), blue #2 (e132), red #3 (e127), red #40 (e129), yellow #5 (e102), and yellow #6 (e110))". Now, that's likely line residue possibilities from their other cupcakes, but this was spot checking the 1st cupcake listed...

ONE cupcake?! I think we identified one of the reasons Sprinkles died- they killed off their customer base!

But in all seriousness, definitely not. As PPs have reported here- the craze is over. Few people are interested in a $6 cupcake anymore, that was so Covid Era hot. Sprinkles didn’t innovate to remain TicTok/IG trendy + they didn’t build a large loyal base who just couldn’t do without their $6 cupcake that week. Oops.

 

[Mle8308]

I wonder, looking at the ingredients list for just their vanilla cupcake, if the 2026 removal of all artificial dyes was the straw that broke the camel's back (thus the 12/31 11:59pm national closure). Private equity doesn't remake the wheel, and having to redesign all the cupcakes to meet the new US health standards was something that financially they decided wasn't worth more than just closing and selling off the assets. I mean, they would already be struggling with labor costs vs sale per unit (high hourly wages per employee mean you want to sell a certain dollar value per transaction to stay profitable, and you can only charge so much per cupcake), the decreasing popularity of cupcakes and sugared products from their high, their corporate national but still limited reach, etc.

For the ingredient design, their vanilla cupcake had "may contain: fd&c blue #1 (e133), blue #2 (e132), red #3 (e127), red #40 (e129), yellow #5 (e102), and yellow #6 (e110))". Now, that's likely line residue possibilities from their other cupcakes, but this was spot checking the 1st cupcake listed...

Overall, the cupcake fad has passed. However, they are still keeping their mail order business, so changes will have to be made to ingredients. Though they definitely reduced expenses by having no rent, less employees, etc.