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Sprinkles Cupcakes, a popular bakery chain originating from Beverly Hills, recently closed all of its stores across six states, including its location at the City Center Bishop Ranch in San Ramon.
According to a spokesperson for City Center, the cupcake chain did not provide any notice to the shopping center that it was shuttering all of its stores for good nationwide on New Year’s Eve. In an Instagram post the same day, Sprinkles founder and former CEO Candace Nelson said she was also shocked to hear that the company she started was closing its doors without much notice.
Nelson started Sprinkles in 2005 and sold the company to private equity in 2012.
“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it and this isn’t how I thought the story would go,” Nelson said in the Instagram post Dec. 31. “I thought Sprinkles would keep growing and be around forever. I thought it was going to be my legacy.”
Sprinkles first opened in the San Ramon shopping center in April 2022 alongside Patelco Credit Union. The two had shared a space inside the 5,000-square-foot Patelco branch.
The Weekly reached out to Patelco for comments on the closure and any future plans for the space but has not heard back as of time of publication.
Known for its famous Cupcake ATM, the Sprinkles shop had since resided at the shared location in City Center up until this past week when news broke of the company’s sudden closure. Multiple national news outlets have reported that the business shut down due to financial challenges and unforeseen circumstances, although no specific information has been publicized.
Even though she did not have any ownership or operational involvement with the company she created and then sold, Nelson said on social media that she was still deeply grateful for the years of joy Sprinkles brought to fans and communities across the U.S.
However, hundreds of people under her post on Instagram — some claiming to be now-former employees — voiced their frustration over the abrupt closure because it has left several Sprinkles employees without a job. Some who claim to have been blindsided by the sudden closure lamented entering the new year without a job and at risk of financial insecurity.
Elsewhere in City Center, On the Edge shoe store vacated its second-floor unit ahead of its lease expiring on New Year’s Eve.
The prominent first-floor space on the western outer edge that used to be home to Starbucks remains vacant, but the smaller unit next door is now slated to welcome Hydration Room IV and Injection Therapy this year.
Meyhouse, the Turkish cuisine restaurant in the old Dumpling Time unit, is still being developed but missed its autumn opening target. The Palmetto Superfoods eatery several doors down is still listed as coming soon.
Editor’s note: DanvilleSanRamon associate publisher Jeremy Walsh contributed to this story.
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