Beautiful Brands International (BBI) announced the addition of Kansas City–based cupcakery Smallcakes to its portfolio of restaurants to market and franchise worldwide. The agreement also calls for the development and openings of cobranded Smallcakes and FreshBerry stores. BBI is also considering cobranding Smallcakes with BBI's flagship brand, Camille's Sidewalk Cafe.
“Smallcakes is the perfect addition to the Beautiful Brands family of brands,” says David Rutkauskas, BBI founder, president, and CEO. “Camille and I first noticed Smallcakes when we saw the company featured on Food Network's Cupcake Wars, and after we tried them, we fell in love with the brand from the very first bite.”
The agreement between Jeff and Brandy Martin, owners of Smallcakes, and Beautiful Brands International will utilize BBI’s organizational and support system to market and franchise the brand on a national and global scale. BBI’s support will include product development, marketing, real estate, architecture, legal, franchise sales, and other aspects of franchise development. Smallcakes will be positioned as a fast-casual concept, with relatively low startup costs and an average ticket of $16.
“You can’t really help but smile when you eat a cupcake,” says Jeff Martin. “That’s really the idea behind Smallcakes—we wanted to provide a product to families and individuals where they can experience joy and happiness all by eating a cupcake. We’re thrilled we can join with Beautiful Brands to take our successful business model and expand it worldwide.”
Founded in Kansas City in 2008, Smallcakes has grown to two locations in Kansas with a third store in development in Missouri. The innovative “cupcakery” restaurant bakes 15 kinds of cupcakes each day, each freshly topped with swirls of velvety icing in traditional and modern flavors. The unique cupcakes have recently been a feature on popular TV shows such as The View and Cupcake Wars on the Food Network.
“It’s really the perfect product for franchisees to see an immediate return on investment,” Rutkauskas says. “The Smallcakes concept has a terrific franchise profile with low overhead and a very efficient business model. It also has a product that is unbeatable and will bring people in again and again.”
