Last Updated on July 26, 2012 by DeanR
Gigi’s Cupcakes Franchise
Gigi’s Cupcakes is a franchise for a cupcakes business. It was founded by Gigi in 2007. She was born in California and grew up in California.
In 2007, she and her brother, Steve, went to New York and tried one of New York’s famous cupcakes. Her brother made a comment after having one, “These aren’t as good as yours and mom’s. You should open a cupcake shop in Nashville!” She thought about it and coming from a family of bakers, she said that it would be a great idea to open one in Nashville since it is a progressive city.
She approached and was turned down by four banks. They laughed and said “A cupcake shop, are you kidding?” That did not stop her and finally, she found a bank that helped her get a loan from her credit cards at a low interest rate. She started with $100,000 and it scared her. She started taking order from her friends who were medical staff.
She would clean in the morning then bake 12 dozen cupcakes in the evening. After a while, she was able to open her cupcake shop. At that time, she did not have enough money left to advertise her opening but people started coming in and soon, a lot of them lined up at the door. Her landlord, Alan Thompson, is experience in franchising. He convinced her to start franchising her concept. Alan helped her, her dad helped building the stores, her mom helped her in creating recipes, and her brother handled direct operations. They now have 32 locations all over the United States and five that are company owned. She dreams of one day having 100 locations owned by Americans who are focused on having small businesses.
What cupcakes do they have at Gigi’s Cupcakes?
They have a different menu of cupcakes every day from Monday until Sunday which is a Baker’s Choice Day. They have cupcakes like Midnight Magic Chocolate Chip, Orange Dreamsicle, Chocolate Salted Caramel, Banana Cream Pie, Lemon Dream Supreme, Strawberry Shortcake, Hunka Chunka Banana Love, Scarlett’s Red Velvet, Italian Cream Wedding Cake, Flower Power, Summer Fun, Kentucky Bourbon Pie, Hot Fudge Sundae, and Texas Milk Chocolate are only a few of them. These may differ in every location. The name sounds interesting but it still does not do justice to how the cupcakes looks like.
Cost and requirements on running a Gigi’s Cupcakes franchise
You need to have a liquid asset of at least $50,000. Expect to be investing about $175,000 to $200,000. The Gigi’s Cupcakes franchise fee is $35,000 with an on-going royalty fee of 4.5%. There will be a 2% marketing fee. They do not require prior experience in baking.
What is included in the franchise package?
There will be 120 hours of training in classroom and on the job training. You will be provided assistance in site selection and lease review and negotiation. You will be assisted in the design, layout, construction, and equipment sourcing. You will also be provided assistance in the grand opening. There will be on going operational and marketing support.
Gigi’s Cupcakes Contact Details
You may reach them at:
Address: 2000 Mallory Ln., #130-253 Franklin, Tennessee 37067
Phone: (615)915-0814