Magnolia Cupcakes Readies Online Push in Harlem
The Magnolia cupcake bakery made famous by the “Sex and the City” TV show is expanding, again.
It signed a 10-year lease this week for a 5,200-square-foot production facility at 1751 Park Ave. in Harlem that will serve as a distribution point when the baker begins peddling its goods on the Web.
Magnolia plans to sell branded merchandise and baked goods through an online store set to launch in the spring.
The company is in “growth mode” and is considering more locations in New York, New Jersey, Washington, Boston, Philadelphia and Chicago, co-owner Steve Abrams said.
Al Tayer Group in February opened the first Magnolia Bakery outside of the U.S. as part of Bloomingdale’s Dubai. In January, Mr. Abrams will fly to Dubai to scout a second store in Dubai plus another store in Abu Dhabi.
Magnolia Bakery first opened its doors in West Village in 1996. Mr. Abrams, his wife and daughter took the company over in 2007 and expanded to four additional locations in New York and one in Los Angeles. He said sales at stores open at least a year rose 5% last year.
By opening the new production facility and online store, Mr. Abrams says he can push out $10 million in merchandise and baked goods a year. Besides selling via the Web he says the facility will allow the bakery to offer its goods in mail-order catalogs.
The Harlem building is in an urban empowerment zone, designated by the city and federal government to attract light manufacturing businesses to the area. Building owners get property-tax incentives. Nearby business with food-production facilities include the Upper East Side Grace’s Marketplace, Chelsea Market’s Fatwitch Bakery and Umanof & Parsons Bakery.
Rent is a third to half less than comparable real estate in the rest of Manhattan, says David Ennis of the Daten Group, which represented Magnolia in the deal. Eligible businesses in the zone can also receive energy-cost reductions and wage credits for employees.
Write to Shelly Banjo at shelly.banjo@wsj.com
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