Via Facebook
Each day in the Morning Roundup we link to a piece we published on that given day in the past. Usually it’s an article we published a year ago, but sometimes we’ll dig back through the archives (hey, we’ve been around for a while!).
As I was adding in today’s “This Day in DCist,” I noticed that, on this day last year, I reported that ubiquitous cupcakery Sprinkles was going to open a cupcake ATM in Georgetown this past fall. So whatever happened to that? Nothing.
It’s been exactly a year and there’s still no cupcake ATM in Georgetown. Why do I care? Why should you care? Why is this news? I don’t, you shouldn’t, it’s not. Still, I can’t stop thinking about it. Mainly because this cupcake ATM is three years in the making. Three fucking years.
A cupcake ATM is dumb, yes, but it doesn’t seem like it should be that complicated to open one. To wit: Erik Bruner-Yang and Will Sharp’s hotly anticipated restaurant/market Maketto was announced around the same time as the cupcake ATM and it looks like they’re going to beat it. Opening a cupcake ATM should not take longer than opening an entire restaurant/clothing market.
At this point, I don’t even care about the cupcake ATM. I mean, I never really did: I don’t have a feeling one way or another about cupcakes; I rarely ever pay a visit to Georgetown; and the idea of it just seems dumb to me. But I want to know so badly why it’s taking so long to open what should be a simple, dumb marketing ploy.
I reached out to a spokesperson for Sprinkles who simply told me that they “hit some snags in having our Cupcake ATM street side but are actively working on other ideas to make it happen.” She could not discuss the matter any further, thus fueling my morbid fascination and frustration.
When I reported on this last year, one of the potential snags was that Sprinkles has to apply for a permit with the D.C. Department of Consumer and Regulatory Affairs in order to install a street side cupcake ATM. Thomas Luebke, Secretary of the Commission of Fine Arts, which runs the Old Georgetown Board, told me that Sprinkles hadn’t yet applied for the permit. “Because it is a change to the building, they should be applying for a permit through DCRA,” which would then go to the Old Georgetown Board for approval,” he said.
OK, so if that’s the case, they’ve had a YEAR to apply for this thing. Why haven’t they? Will there ever be a cupcake ATM in Georgetown? Why can’t I stop thinking about this?
