Cupcake Royale Closes Down Its Queen Anne Shop

After serving its hugely popular confections in Queen Anne since 2013, iconic Seattle bakery chain Cupcake Royale has closed its location in the neighborhood permanently, but will stay open in its five other spots around the city. An eagle-eyed tipster spotted a sign on the Queen Anne shop with the closure announcement earlier this week, and Cupcake Royale owner Jody Hall confirmed the news to Eater Seattle, citing a difficult decision in which rising costs and close proximity to two of the chain’s other locations were factors. Cupcake Royale will maintain its operations in Madrona, Capitol Hill, Ballard, West Seattle, and Downtown.

The award-winning Cupcake Royale brand has been around for more than 15 years, expanding from its humble roots in a small Madrona cafe to a mini empire around the city, with customers coming from all over the state to sample its goods. While the cupcakes — including fan favorites red velvet and caramel — are among the most sought after in an increasingly crowded Seattle bakery landscape, in recent years the chain has branched out to include ice cream among its offerings, which have also been a hit. Though this is the first time Cupcake Royale has had to shut down one of its locations, Hall indicated that it was done for the greater good of the business.

“While we’re madly in love with our customers and fans on Queen Anne, we are looking to our bright future ahead and had to make the tough call and acknowledge that it was a bit grand of us to have a store a few miles from our biggest stores in Ballard and Downtown 106 Pine Street,” Hall said in a written statement. “To make it in this new world of super important yet higher minimum wages and increasing rents and costs to operate, we made this decision carefully to keep Cupcake Royale strong and relevant for the future — for our business, employees and community.”

• All Coverage of Cupcake Royale [ESEA]
• Cupcake Royale [Official]