Hell of a way to ring in the New Year. Sprinkles, the cupcake juggernaut that launched a thousand stores, will be closing all locations by 8pm tonight. This came as a shock to employees, who were given less than 24 hour notice.
Comments across the company’s social media posts are filled with employees expressing understandable anger about the way this has been handled. “Can we please talk about how all associates were made aware not even 24 hours ago,” Instagram user Chells commented. “We are all now jobless and tonight we are all losing our health insurance. We all our financial cut off completely. Happy New Years to the thousands of people that gave this company everything.”
The online ordering system for all of the Sprinkles stores is currently only allowing orders for New Year’s Eve and lists “no times available” past January 1st, 2026.
Candace Nelson founded the chain in 2005 in Beverly Hills, and sold it to a private equity firm in 2012. In a post to Instagram this morning, Nelson said this sudden closure was “surreal.” You can see her full video post here.
The following is the caption on Nelson’s video:
“Today is Sprinkles’ final day. As many of you know, I started Sprinkles in 2005 with a KitchenAid mixer and a big idea. Over the years, we expanded across the country and launched the Cupcake ATM. I sold Sprinkles in 2012 and have no ownership or operational involvement in the company.
Still, it’s surreal to see this chapter come to a close – and it’s not how I imagined the story would unfold.
I’m deeply grateful to the fans, customers, and community who showed up, celebrated with us, and made Sprinkles part of their traditions – and to the team who made it all happen. I’ll always be proud of what we built.
Today, my heart is with the Sprinkles employees. ? If you have stories about how Sprinkles Cupcakes added a little extra sweetness, comfort, or connection to your life, please share them below.”
