Three years ago, cupcake chain Crumbs went public, based on the notion that its monstrously large treats were so unique that consumers would want a Crumbs store in every city, town, and hamlet from Portland to Portland. But since just about anyone can bake a decent cupcake and throw a bunch of sweet stuff on top of it, people started their own cupcakeries instead of buying into the Crumbs model, and the company’s stock price nosedived from an initial high of around $13 to just a few pennies, all before Crumbs shuttered its stores last week. But the chain might have a savior — who sees Crumbs’ future… as just another store to sell sweet junk food.

On Friday, Marcus Lemonis, star of reality TV’s The Profit, and snack-maker Fischer Enterprises announced a joint venture, Lemonis Fischer Acquisition Company, that will acquire the assets of Crumbs.

The goal is to get Crumbs out of bankruptcy and re-established as a privately held company (it was de-listed by NASDAQ shortly before closing its retail locations), and then get back to the retail business of peddling sugar.

But whether that closed-up Crumbs in your neighborhood will reopen remains to be seen. The investors say they are considering bringing back some locations but may open new ones.

The apparent goal for Lemonis Fischer is to establish retail outlets for snack brands controlled by the new owners, like Dippin’ Dots ice Cream, Doc Popcorn, Mr. Green Tea Ice cream, and Sweet Pete’s Candy. And in a case of reality TV synergy, the resurrected Crumbs will eventually carry some product from an upcoming episode of Lemonis’s reality show.

So basically, they are buying the Crumbs name and using it as an insta-brand to sell their own non-cupcake retail products.

[via Eater]

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