Lemonis ready to relaunch Crumbs Bake Shop

Watch for Crumbs Bake Shop to reopen at Water Tower Place in the next few weeks.

The specialty bakery bought this summer by Chicago businessman and TV personality Marcus Lemonis plans to reopen 26 shops beginning with one in New York City on Tuesday. The rest will reopen over the next month, the company said late Thursday.

“Saving this iconic bake shop was important to me not only because of its existing delicious products, but because there is a tremendous opportunity to expand product offerings so that every sweet lover can find something they’ll enjoy,” Lemonis said in a news release.

Lemonis, host of CNBC’s reality series “The Profit,” teamed up with Fischer Enterprises, owner of Dippin’ Dots, to buy the chain out of bankruptcy.

The relaunched chain will offer more than cupcakes. The new owners have developed a line of cookies, ice cream products and a chocolate aimed at the mass market. Crumbs also will offer the Crumbnut, a doughnut-croissant hybrid, and the Baissant, a bagel-croissant combo, as well as gluten-free cupcakes, cookies and brownies.

“We believe we have found a winning formula by combining the beloved Crumbs cupcakes with an exciting new mix of products. The revamped Crumbs concept should appeal to both the existing Crumbs customer base and anyone looking for a great sweet or snack option,” said Scott Fischer, chief operating officer of Fischer Enterprises.

The chain hasn’t announced a date for reopening the Water Tower Place store. The company’s stated timeframe would get the stores reopened ahead of the holiday shopping season.

“We received feedback from so many customers that were disappointed in the closing of this iconic brand,” Lemonis said. “Through restructuring the business, we believe we will be able to transition the brand from just a cupcake shop to a sweets and snacks destination.”