Call it Top Chef: Cupcake Edition.
On the heels of gourmet cupcake shop Sugar on Top's debut, another cupcake shop, *ndulge, has plans to open in May. Both shops specialize in unusual cupcake flavors, which they call a rising fad across the nation.
Shaunda Lohse, owner of Sugar on Top,
121 1/2 E. Beaver Ave., which is set to open in a few weeks, credits the rise of cupcake shops nationwide to the "Sex and the City" series and Beverly Hills-based Sprinkles Cupcakes. The popularity has spurred competition among stores to create cupcake flavors beyond the traditional chocolate and vanilla.
Now, State College has joined in on the
frenzy.
Donn Selkowitz, Class of 1972, is the owner of *ndulge, 208 W. College Ave. After 24 years of working in an advertising agency, he wanted a change of atmosphere.
"Bakeries are happy places," Selkowitz said. "They bring you back to childhood. That's the kind of atmosphere I want to be associated with at this time in my life."
Focusing on cupcakes of all flavors, like Coca-Cola and cream soda cupcakes, *ndulge will also sell pastries, such as cinnamon
buns and punch bowl cake.
That means there are now two cupcake shops downtown -- which may seem odd, said Jody Alessandrine, executive director of the Downtown Improve-ment District.
But he thinks they may fill a niche for after-dinner visitors looking for a place to relax. He hopes the cupcake shops have extended hours, which he called "critical" for businesses in towns like State College.
"It's always important that we have viable retail space being utilized," Alessandrine said. "But for both of these businesses to do well, they need to stay open as much as possible. It's the only way to gauge if they will work."
Lohse was worried at first that her new competition would affect her business, but her confidence in her product changed her mind.
"I'm local, my husband is a professor, so I'm not going anywhere," she said. "And this is an interactive shop. If you come in and we don't have a flavor, you can challenge me to make it."
Selkowitz, who currently lives in Rochester, N.Y., has purchased an apartment in State College and plans to commute.
Penn State has become a second home that will never leave him, he said.
"As a former Penn Stater, you can leave State College, but it can't leave you," he said.
Despite the current economy, cupcakes are very inexpensive to make, Lohse said. As she puts it, everyone has $2 to spend at the end of the day on a gourmet cupcake.
And Selkowitz thinks State College is an ideal environment for opening a business. If *ndulge is successful here, he plans on opening more stores in other college towns on the East Coast.
"I set out to create the best-tasting product in America," he said. "I think we are going to get close."
