No More Sprinkles Cupcakes

 On December 31st, 2025 I happened to hear on the radio that Sprinkles Cupcakes was closing. I quickly tried to figure out how much time I had to get in one last Sprinkles cupcake review only to learn that as of that very same day, all Sprinkles locations were closed. That was it, no more Sprinkles. 

Apparently customers weren't the only ones shocked by this news. It turns out that Sprinkles employees were given a day or less notice of the closure. They also got no severance pay. Happy New Year. 

In 2005 Sprinkles founder, Candance Nelson, opened the first Sprinkles Cupcakes location in Beverly Hills. She subsequently pioneered the gourmet cupcake trend. By 2008 Sprinkles was all the rage, easily the front runner of the cupcake craze and opened it's first Northern California location at The Stanford Shopping Mall in Palo Alto. 

In Februaury 2012 I lost a boss, a friend, a mentor. Robin Rockwell was and is a radio legend who rocked the promotions department at alternative rock radio stations in San Diego then San Francisco. Robin loved a big rock show. She had a special way of lifting people up to make them realize their full potential and she loved to laugh. Oh brother that infectious laugh of hers! She also loved cupcakes. When I left radio, I started this blog reviewing music and cupcakes. My cupcake reviews are a dedication to Robin and her infinity for the handheld, single serving cakes. She's the one who introduced me to Sprinkles Cupcakes and she's the first person I thought of when I found out about the closure. 

Sprinkles Cupcakes in Palo Alto 2012 
photo by unknown

Not long after her passing, a former co-worker and I took a trip down to Sprinkles in Palo Alto and had cupcakes in Robin's honor. I got what would become one of my favorite Sprinkles' flavors, the Black & White: Belgian Dark Chocolate cake with vanilla frosting topped with chocolate paillettes. The chocolatey-est chocolate cake that isn't chocolate flourless cake that I've come across. August 4th, 2012 was the first time I reviewed a Sprinkles cupcake, the Chocolate Marshmellow. 

That same year, the first Sprinkles Cupcake ATM opened at the same store where it all started in Beverly Hills. This revolutionized the cupcake industry, making Sprinkles Cupcakes available 24/7. 2012 was also the year that founder Candance Nelson sold her hugely successful cupcakery to the private equity firm, KarpReilly. 

It took me six years but in 2018 I finally made it to that cupcake ATM, got a cupcake from it and reviewed it. It was a spin on what was probably their most popular flavor, a Red Velvet cupcake with cream cheese frosting but this one had crushed red hot candies in the frosting making it a Red Hot Velvet cupcake. I remember it being good and I was stoked about finally getting a cupcake from a cupcake ATM. 

Sprinkles Cupcakes ATM in Beverly Hills 2018 
photo by Curtis DeMartini

In the 13 years that I've been reviewing music and cupcakes for my blog, 

I only reviewed Sprinkles Cupcakes a handful of times. I've eaten plenty of Sprinkles Cupcakes over the years and reviewing every single one would have been too easy. There's a lot of cupcakes out there and I have to review as many different ones from different places as I can to know which cupcakes are better than the rest. Sprinkles was up there with their perfectly manicured frosting and signature fondant button on top of almost all of their cupcakes. I did always wish that the cup part of their cupcake was a tad girthier though. 

In the Summer of 2024 I reviewed what would, unbeknownced to me, be my last Sprinkles Cupcakes cupcake reveiw, the Pride Sprinkle cupcake. It was the flavor of the month for June, which is Pride month, and the cupcake was filled with rainbow sprinkles, my fave on, in, or off cupcakes. 

The cupcake craze faded considerably since the early to mid 2000s but cupcakeries and cupcakes are still all around. Sprinkles was always on top when it came to cupcakes which compounds the confusion and has enthusiasts wondering, what happened? 

What else does KarpReilly own?

Why did they do Sprinkles Cupcakes employees so dirty? 

How much money did Nelson get when she sold Sprinkles?

If you're looking for answers on-line the Sprinkles website offers no information, it doesn't even state that they've gone out of business. The Sprinkles Cupcakes social media pages have been deleted, deactivated, wiped clean, as if  Sprinkles never existed. 

The only conclusion I could think of is that sales had to be down, way down. Did inflation costs which all of us feel, make matters worse? Baking ingredients aren't cheap and they're not getting any cheaper. Did rising costs leave those in charge feeling hopeless about cashing in big moving forward? 

Pride Sprinkle cupcake from Sprinkles Cupcakes 2024 
photo by Nikki DeMartini

A private equity firm is an investmate company that pools money from wealthy individuals and institutions to buy, improve and sell companies not listed in the public stock exchange. They aim to produce high profits by growing the business or restructuring the business over several years. 

KarpReilly owns stakes in small to mid sized consumer growth companies which is quite unsettling of you think about it. How many Sprinkles Cupcakes lovers thought they were supporting a woman owned business that started small only to have the rug pulled out from under them, exposing the man behind the curtain. KarpReilly also owns Salt & Straw Ice Creamery, Spindrift Sparkling Water and Koia Protein Shakes. 

In the age of gross consumerism where everyone is inudated with information that's more often than not taken at face value with little to no research done before drawing a conclusion, what we witnessed with Sprinkles Cupcakes comes as a reminder to slow down. Know where your dollars are going. Are you supporting small, local businesses or are you feeding the gluttonous man?

Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins. Spend wisely.