Cake Crumbs Whips Up a New Commissary Location
The retail location at 5151 E. 28th Avenue has seen many incarnations in the past decade – Chinese and Thai restaurants, a convenience store, a medical marijuana dispensary, a marijuana edibles bakery, and often simple vacancy – a fact not lost on its neighbors, Denon and Sean Moore, owners of the Cake Crumbs bakery.
Any visitor to the Cake Crumbs bakery would know that their Kearney St. location is thriving. The line is long, the eating areas consistently busy and the cupcakes seem to fly off the shelves.
So it’s only natural that the Moores would be looking for an off-site kitchen/commissary where they could have more room to bake the 100 specialty cakes and 10,000 cupcakes the bakery generates in an average peak week.
“We’re interested in the property because we are a part of the neighborhood,” says Denon, who looks out onto the property from the backdoor of her home where she lives with Sean, their two kids and two dogs.
The lengthy process to find such a location began last year. Before the deal was brokered, and after two lenders turned them down, the Moores decided that if they received a third strike, they’d be out of the game. Luckily, their third lender, CapitalSource of Englewood, was the charm. The Moores have garnered additional financial support from the city’s Office of Economic Development and the Small Business Adminstration. The OED and SBA loans will go directly to capital improvements on the site.
“Even though the building will not have a public use right away, our intentions are that the neighborhood will see improvements day one,” said Denon.
Though they have been renting the space for the month of March as part of the closing agreement with the landlord, the renovations will begin April 1, when the contracts are finalized and the capital investment resources are available. Kuhn Construction will renovate the interior and refinish the exterior. Landscape updates are also in the works.
The major advantage of the commissary location is that it will allow the bakery to maintain the production levels they’ve reached. This past summer, Cake Crumbs discontinued their wedding cake services due to space constraints – a service that could eventually be restored in a year once they get settled in the new location. Down the road, the Moores are considering a retail location at the Fairfax site.
The new location will require the immediate addition of four full-time bakers to their existing staff of 20.
Cake Crumbs is in the throes of a busy 2012, having just opened another location in Colorado Springs on February 21 at 3 E Bijou. They had operated a cupcake in the city for just a year, and its popularity created a high demand for a brick and mortar shop.
“Unlike Denver, we can count the competition in the Springs on one hand,” said Denon.
Cake Crumbs will also launch a new concept dessert truck in April. Like its predecessor, Clementine, the Denver Cupcake Truck, the new truck will sweeten the Ides of April with a tax day launch.
They’ve never been busier but, according to Denon, “It’s a good busy. It’s all positive.”
Editor’s Note: The closing date for Cake Crumbs’ new commissary is March 30th, after the GPHN goes to print. Keep up-to-date with the story on Twitter @parkhillnews.