Hello! My Wife and I have a cupcake shop in Texas and it has been doing well for 2 years (As of yesterday). We have an opportunity to expand into an adjoining shop area (now empty) and think that it would be a great idea to add cupcake themed merchandise to the store, plus adding a little more room in the kitchen!

These items would be things that we can easily find on Ebay and Amazon such as cupcake clocks, salt and pepper shakers but I think then I would be reselling resold items....We are looking for the manufacturers of these items to buy from them.

Does anyone here own a cupcake shop and sell merchandise too? How do you find these suppliers? Any help would be appreciated..

Thanks,

Steven

I suggest you write a short business plan that covers these question. You will have a lot of money invested in inventory. If I was in your situation, my focus would shift from sourcing products for resale, to customers/sales/volume.  

Who are you planning on selling cupcake tchotchkes to? I don't know whether that's going to be a super-profitable sideline, and if you're looking for a manufacturer you're going to have to buy a decent amount of inventory from them like @MimiFix pointed out. You might be better off seeing if there are local artists who would be interested in putting things in the shop on consignment and you could concentrate on food-themed items.

AWhen my husband was working out of town, I visited a great little bakery that also carried cake supplies. I would love for something similar to open in my home town. Just an idea! Best wishes to you.

AHere's a link to their website if you want to take a look. They also teach classes.

http://www.sweetstuffinc.com/about-us/

I'm guessing you've been reading the headlines about "the cupcake craze being over, but this article had a bunch of cupcake stuff with who makes them.   Thought it might help.  Personally, I can imagine a cupcake store carrying a few items and doing okay, but I can't imagine a store full of only cupcake stuff doing very well.  Just my 2 cents.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/30840-the-cupcake-craze-might-be-over-but-here-are-11-ways-to-celebrate-them-forever?utm_source=FBTraffic&utm_medium=fijifrost&utm_campaign=CMfacebook

Hey there, I like the idea of cupc items as well. You can get most of your stuff for the cupcakes from Bakery Crafts. they have an on lines store and yu dont have to have a tax ID to get from them. Have Classes and sell the supplies needed for the class as well, all from one location. Saturday classes with the family work out well and birthday parties where they come in and decorate right at your store. Just like Home Depot does. Just a thought. Let them eat cake!

Actually, I hadn't heard about Crumbs closing. :-) Nor do I think "Cupcakes" are dead, anymore than cake is.

The attached article did help though, I appreciate that and yes...we were only thinking of adding SOME items that would be cupcake themed. Maybe a couple of eccentric ones but mostly simple stuff and then also cupcake liners and a few baking goods. Someone suggested party type items and that might be a fit in our area but we love making the cupcakes so that will be the foundation of our business model.

Our first commenter was also correct, volume is a better thing to chase. We will do that too.

Thanks again...

AI own a bakery supply and party supply business in Ohio called Smidge and Pinch. We don't bake we sell supplies. We are very successful and I can give you some great ideas on best selling items that would be great add ons to your cakes. Www.smidgeandpinch.com is our site. Feel free to email me for any help or suggestions

There are many cake supply stores that are quite successful. If you want to head that route, I'd hope you would check out Bakery Crafts as a supplier. Smidge and Pinch has a bunch of our products on their site (very cute site, BTW). Feel free to call our 800 number if you have questions (1-800-543-1673) or reach out to us here with a private message. We will do our best to help you in any way we can. Good luck!!

Here at Smidge and Pinch we love Bakery Crafts!  I get excited when I get a flyer or catalog in the mail!