Carlo’s Bakery of ‘Cake Boss’ fame plans to open in time for the Christmas holidays at 84 Broad Street, a company official said. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Make room on the oven rack: Cake Boss is moving in on Red Bank’s sweet tooth.
Carlo’s Bakery, the Hoboken pastry shop that gave rise to cable-TV phenom ‘Cake Boss’ Buddy Valastro and his growing empire of retail bake shops, has rented the former Ricky’s Candy Cones and Chaos space at 84 Broad Street, a company official confirmed to redbankgreen‘s Retail Churn.
Chief brand officer Adam Bourcier said the store will feature on-premises baking and a few tables and chairs with “an open-look into the kitchen.”
The shop will be distinct from the TV show, he said.
“The show might film there, but that will be the extent of it,” he said. “It’ll be just like our other stores” in Hoboken, Ridgewood and Westfield, which opened just last month.
Bourcier also said Carlo’s will displace Posh Pops, a 15-month-old cupcake store that subleased a corner of the space from Ricky’s. There was no immediate word on where Posh Pops might go next.
The bigger question is how Carlo’s might affect the burgeoning market for baked-and-iced treats downtown.
Whipped, A Café and Dessert Bar, opened earlier this month on Monmouth Street – just steps, in fact, away from the planned Carlo’s location – joining the already established Cupcake Magician and Lil Cutie Pops, also on Monmouth, and Sugarush, which is in the process of doubling the size of its East Front Street shop.
But Carlo’s isn’t out to take anything off anyone else’s plate, said Bourcier.
“We faced a similar situation in Westfield” with Bovella‘s, a pastry shop with 64 years standing in the town, he said. “We’re not looking to kick people out, put people out of business. We’re looking to add a unique experience to great downtowns. That’s our whole expansion model: what great downtowns exist, and how do we bring something unique and special to their offerings?
“We’re there to be a part of the community, not to be a community-killer,” he said.
The company hopes to open the shop in time for the Christmas holidays, Bourcier said.
That timetable, however, may be ambitious: as of Thursday morning, no paperwork had been filed with the borough planning office, town officials said.
