Sprinkles Cupcakes, a company known for selling desserts through vending-machine “cupcake ATMs,” has shut down after about 20 years of operation around the United States, according to its former owner.
Candace Nelson, who started the company after losing her job in 2005, said the ending was not what she expected. “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, after the closure was announced Dec. 30.
Nelson began Sprinkles Cupcakes in her own kitchen. The first location was a small storefront in Beverly Hills that had previously been a sandwich shop, before the brand grew into a national name.
The company’s shut down prompted fans to take to social media to lament the closure, the Associated Press reported. Sprinkles’ cupcake-dispensing machines—placed in malls and airports—had also gained attention online, briefly going viral on TikTok for a repeated “I love Sprinkles” jingle as a mechanical arm delivered the dessert.
The company’s website no longer lists any products for sale, and it has removed operational locations across the country, the report said. KarpReilly LLC, which bought the business, did not respond to an emailed request for comment.
Nelson sold Sprinkles Cupcakes to KarpReilly in 2012 after the company had expanded to 10 locations across the country. The report said KarpReilly owns dozens of other companies making products including a health food home delivery service, kombucha, and protein wellness shakes.
The company and Nelson did not provide a reason for the closure, according to the AP. The report noted that private equity has expanded its influence in restaurants, investing $94.5 billion between 2014 and 2024, according to PitchBook.
Some Sprinkles Cupcakes fans said on social media that the closure fits a broader trend in which private equity buys restaurants and retail brands—citing examples such as Red Lobster and TGI Fridays—that later file for bankruptcy or close altogether.