Bundt cake franchise looks to steal cupcake thunder in B.R.

Has the specialty cupcake craze been replaced by the high-end Bundt cake business? In some cities around the country it has. Now, a brother and sister team, Craig Moore and Elizabeth Novak, is testing the market in Baton Rouge with a Nothing Bundt Cakes outlet, which opens Saturday on Corporate Boulevard in the space previously occupied by Fashionista boutique. As its name suggests, the store peddles specialty Bundt cakes in various flavors and sizes, and has proven successful in its 14 years in operation. Since the first NBC outlet opened in Las Vegas in the late 1990s, the company has grown to include 50 franchise- and company-owned stores, mostly in the West and Southwest. It’s a niche product, to be sure, but Moore says the model has been successful because a Bundt cake is a specialty product that allows for slightly higher profit margins than in, say, the pizza business. “We can sell at a higher price point because people don’t skimp on celebrating,” says Moore, who is president of Nothing Bundt Cake Enterprises, now based in Dallas. “They don’t skimp on special occasions.” Click here for the full story.—Stephanie Riegel