Allison and Matt Robicelli Set Their Sights on Baltimore

Matt and Allison Robicelli are moving to Baltimore to open a new location of their popular sweets shop, Robicelli's. The bakers are closing their Bay Ridge shop on Christmas Eve, but the Robicellis are going to move their operations into a new facility in the area that will not have a store component. Allison explains:

Wholesale and events have blown up, with us getting major distribution out of Hunt's Point, so we're moving back to an industrial kitchen....One of us will still be coming up once a week though to check in on clients and oversee wholesale things. Plus my whole family is here, so we have a house to stay in, and we'll be here a lot.

Although the Robicellis have not yet announced the exact location of the Baltimore shop, the plan is to open the new space by fall 2016. Allison notes: "A developer in Baltimore has made us an offer to come down there, set up shop in buildings he owns, and make some jobs. We'll be working with partners down there who have operations experience, so we won't be running everything." Allison and Matt also plan to focus on some new video projects and food-related business ideas that have been on the back burner for a bit. Here's Allison explaining the reasons for this major shift:

The impetus behind all of this: we are not happy. We can talk about taxes, Con Ed, rising food costs, etc — and yes, that has a lot to do with it. You work your ass off, margins decrease every passing year, and then you hit a point where you look in the mirror and say "Why am I doing this? What's the point?" It's not just the rent: EVERYTHING that goes into a businesses is inflated in NYC, and casual spending decreases as people find it harder to afford to live here. Straight up: this is not going to end well.

Robicelli's fans have a few more months to visit the Bay Ridge store, and after that, the cupcakes and other goods will still be available online.