I would advise the media to stop saying that the cupcake boom is over. Crumbs is just one business. They are other cupcake bakery chains that are doing well. Baked By Melissa, Georgetown Cupcake, Just Baked, Small Cakes, Sprinkles are growing. These businesses have multiple locations in different states.
Crumbs should have never gone public in the first place. There are other ways to raise capital. They could have grown the business by setting up franchises like many fast food and fast casual restaurants do. Crumbs needed to decide who they were going to be in the marketplace. They couldn't compete with Dunkin Donuts or Cinnabon in other cities or states across the country. They didn't localized their product offerings. What Crumbs could have done is made products for grocery stores and gas stations. They could have tried to take on the snack cake industry. Also, Cinnabon has done a great job of licensing their name to other products like vodka, maple syrup, and other stuff.
Lastly, they could have baked better cupcakes. Crumbs cupcakes were mediocre at best. They were not worth the calories.
Coincidentally, we're going to start posting more cupcake bakery/artisan food business advice for our readers. We want cupcake businesses to succeed. Stay tuned.