The founder of Sprinkles Cupcakes announced the immediate and permanent closure of all Sprinkles locations across the country in a recent social media post.

The details

Candace Nelson founded the cupcake business in 2005 and popularized the idea of the Cupcake ATM. In a video posted on Instagram, Nelson said she sold the company to private equity in 2012 and has no current ownership or operational involvement.

“Even though I sold the company over a decade ago, I still have such a personal connection to it, and this isn’t how I thought the story would go,” Nelson said. “I thought Sprinkles would keep growing and be around forever.”

As of Jan. 2, the Sprinkles website is still live, but all bakery locations have been removed, and several pages state “page not found.”

Current Sprinkles management has not released an official statement.