Spa City Cupcakes to close doors October 11th

First Liberty Bell Cheesesteaks breaks my heart, now this.  Spa City Cupcakes has announced on its web site and Facebook page that the business would be closing for good on October 11th.  I guess this shouldn't be a big surprise - track season is over, the economy is bad, and Spa City Cupcakes has an awfully narrowly focused product line with nearby competition from Mrs. London's, Putnam Street Market, and Uncommon Grounds, just to name a few. I commented a last month that Spa City Cupcakes had a good product, "but not necessarily enough to make me go out of my way to spend somewhere around $2.50 to get one".  Unfortunately, others apparently agreed and I noticed when I was in there a few weeks ago that things looked awfully quiet. 

I give the owners credit for lasting more than a year in that out-of-the-way downstairs location in the Downstreet Marketplace on Broadway.  For the record, the web site gives the official reason for closing as follows: "We enjoyed our time easing the cupcake cravings of Saratogians, but we are moving on to focus our attention on our own little cupcake, our almost 1-year-old son Atticus." The web site also is reporting that another similar type business will soon be filling the same place.  "If you are in need of a cupcake fix, have no fear! A new cupcake lady will be taking our spot. Bettie's Cakes, A Cupcakery Cafe, will be opening at our location on November 6. For information on this great new offering visit Bettie's Cakes at www.bettiescakes.com or:

Email: info@bettiescakes.com
Follow her on Twitter: @bettiescakes
Become a fan on Facebook: Bettie's Cakes - A Cupcakery Cafe"

Ahhh, the entrepeneurial spirit in the Spa City is so vibrant no matter what the odds.  I wish Bettie luck in her new venture. 

Comments

[Lorraine Murphy]

We look forward to meeting everyone and satisfying your sweet tooth cravings at Bettie's Cakes! Please stop by and say hello!

[Dan]

Thank you for commenting Lorraine. I love your 50s theme - that alone may be enough to get me in the door.

[me]

I tried the cup cakes at spa city a few times, they were not very good. blindfolded you would not beable to tell one "flavor" from another. Plus the frosting was all that overly sweet butter creme, It was nothing like Magnolia in NYC where you can get whipped cream topping.

[Dan]

Thanks for sharing your experience with us. Unfortunately for Spa City Cupcakes, they didn't seem to have a great fan base developed and perhaps the product was to blame. Again, it was an awfully narrow niche they were going after, and they were downstairs in the back of the building with quite a bit of competition close by. I wish the new owners luck.

[Ellen]

I never had one of the Spa City cupcakes, so I can't weigh in on that aspect.
I did always feel that they could have publicized more. Maybe they did, but I was pretty up on Saratoga goings-on and never saw much mention about the place.
I don't know if zoning or other laws would have allowed this, but I always thought if someone was out in front with samples, that would have made people aware the business was in that location.
Then again, as you point out Dan, there weren't many fans, so that may not have helped anyway.