BEAUTIFUL BRANDS SmallCakes Cupcakery Breaks Ties with BBI
February 5, 2013
SmallCakes Cupcakery is one of the two latest Beautiful Brands partners to end its “partnership” with Beautiful Brands International (BBI).
According to SmallCakes, “Smallcakes is no longer affiliated with BBI. The separation occured November 2012.”
Tulsa-based Ludger’s Cakery announced that it had split with BBI in January, 2013.
Beautiful Brands International had announced the addition of Kansas City-based cupcakery, Smallcakes, to its portfolio of client restaurants in January, 2011.
SmallCakes was founded in Kansas City in 2008. When it signed with BBI, Smallcakes had grown to two locations in Kansas with a third store currently in development in Missouri. Smallcakes cupcakes had received national media attention on such TV shows as The View and Cupcake Wars.
SmallCakes has grown to just 8 full stores.
Despite the announcement by BBI Beautiful Brands International in June, 2011 that multi-unit developers Brad and Francy Bauer would open 25 new Smallcakes, A Cupcakery stores in North Carolina and South Carolina, no dedicated stores are open in the Carolinas.
The January, 2011 press release announcing the BBI/SmallCakes partnership stated:
Smallcakes is one of 12 concepts marketed and developed by Beautiful Brands International. Franchised brands include Camille’s Sidewalk Café, FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt Café, Greenz Salads, Dixie Cream Donut Co., Rex’s Chicken, Caz’s Chowhouse, Blazing Onion Burger Company, In the Raw Sushi, Top That! Pizza, and Le Beau Rouleau Crepes and Croissants.
BBI no longer represents Greenz Salads, Dixie Cream Donut Co., Caz’s Chowhouse, Blazing Onion Burger Company, In the Raw Sushi, Top That! Pizza, or Le Beau Rouleau Crepes and Croissants.
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Tags: Beautiful Brands, Beautiful Brands International, BBI, SmallCakes, SmallCakes Cupcakery, cupcake franchise, David Rutkauskas,franchise scam, franchise scams, worst franchises, worst franchise, franchise lawsuits, franchise litigation, franchise fraud
BEAUTIFUL BRANDS FreshBerry Smallcakes Franchise Closes
January 8, 2013
Beautiful Brands International’s (BBI) FreshBerry & Smallcakes franchise in Charlotte, North Carolina closed its doors, according to the Charlotte Observer.
The cobranded FreshBerry & Smallcakes franchise, (still listed on the FreshBerry website as located at 1300 East Blvd., Charlotte, NC) closed Sunday, December 16, 2012.
The Beautiful Brands International’s (BBI) franchise location was owned by veteran franchisee Nick Smith, who has been successful with such franchises as Moe’s Southwest Grill and Jersey Mike’s.
The failure of the FreshBerry & Smallcakes franchise was due to “slow traffic,” according to the observer story.
BBI CEO David Rutkauskas claims BBI’s franchise brands are “performing beautifully.”
David Rutkauskas, CEO of franchisor Beautiful Brands International’s (BBI), claimed in a recent QSR article that ““Despite the downturn economy, our brands are performing beautifully and experiencing explosive growth every day…”
However, UnhappyFranchisee.Com has found evidence of a number of BBI franchise brands, namely CherryBerry frozen yogurt and Freshberry frozen yogurt franchises have suffered numerous store closures.
BBI claims that since January 2012, they have sold more than 500 franchised units worldwide.
We ask: How many of these franchise locations will actually open?
How many of those that open will survive the length of their franchise agreements?
Read more about recent Beautiful Brands store closures:
CHERRYBERRY Frozen Yogurt Franchise Closure: Pearland, Texas
CHERRYBERRY Franchise Closure: Blue Springs, Missouri
CHERRYBERRY Franchise Closure: Springfield, Missouri
CHERRYBERRY Franchise Closure: Sand Springs, Oklahoma
CHERRYBERRY Franchise Closure: Fayetteville, AR
CHERRYBERRY Texas Franchise Failures
CHERRYBERRY Franchise Closure: Claremore, Oklahoma
CHERRYBERRY Franchise Closes, Cites Poor Sales
UnhappyFranchisee.Com extends its condolences and best wishes to the owners and staff of the closed CherryBerry franchises.
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TAGS: FreshBerry, FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt, FreshBerry franchise, FreshBerry Frozen Yogurt Franchise, Froyo, Froyo franchise, Frozen Yogurt franchise, Beautiful Brands International, David Rutkauskas, franchise failures, franchise closures, franchise graveyard, Unhappy Franchisee, Freshberry Charlotte NC, Smallcakes franchise, Nick Smith
