Mr. Cupcakes Pulls Out of Red Bank

A year ago Mr. Cupcakes came to town, the second of three downtown Red Bank cupcake stops to open within just months of each other.

Now, Mr. Cupcakes is the first to go, vacating the space it leased in on Broad Street, after owner John Manganiotis said business, especially on weekdays, was too slow to sustain the operation.

Mr. Cupcakes opened its location in Ricky's after opened its own shop on Front Street and shortly before opened on Monmouth Street. Though Mr. Cupcakes came into town with an established pedigree - Mr. Cupcakes originated in Clifton in 2007 and has two other locations in addition to its flagship - it was the only one of the cupcake shops that didn't bake on premises, instead stocking its case via delivery.

Unfortunately, Manganiotis said, keeping the shop open was no longer financially viable.

"The volume just wasn't there for us. The foot traffic we thought was there wasn't," he said. "I hate to put a town down, but the foot traffic (in Red Bank) wasn't enough."

Business was good on the weekend, but the real issue were the weekdays. Without enough people walking past the glass each day, the product just doesn't get the visibility it needs to sell, he said.

An employee who answered the phone at Ricky's Sunday evening said the parting ways was amicable, but declined further comment. Manganiotis said Ricky's was accommodating after he expressed frustration over the dwindling business and allowed Mr. Cupcakes to leave without issue.

One of the final straws, Manganiotis said, was the . The KaBoom! committee, which oversees one of the nation's largest fireworks shows, one that regularly draws more than 100,000 people to Red Bank, made the decision to cancel this year's July 3rd event, associated with the event.

Cutting out an annual event that drew so many people proved just another reason to leave.

"We have a store in the Hackensack Mall (Shops at Riverside). If the mall gets busy the store does well. If the mall isn't busy, if it's beautiful out and people aren't coming in to shop, the store doesn't do well," he said. "People walking by buy your product. The numbers (in Red Bank) were just not good enough."