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Mmmm…Tasty. Gooey. Delicious. From our headline, you might think Valley favorites Sprinkles and Tammie Coe are getting some stiffly whipped competition. Those who hail from Boston or keep up with fashion trends know better.
Entrepreneur Johnny Earle, aka Johnny Cupcakes, has three boutiques — two in Massachusetts and one in California — filled with gorgeous antique stoves, mixers and giant faux baked goods. So you can guess what he sells: cupcakes t-shirts!
Whaaaat? Seems ‘ol Johnny is a lousy baker, but a marketing genius. According to his bio, Johnny has concocted several half-baked sales schemes. Eventually one worked.
He started out selling itching powder and whoopee cushions, eventually moving up to pins and buttons and finally to hawking t-shirts printed with cupcakes on ’em out of his car trunk. Soon, he had a cupcake-cult following.
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Johnny’s currently revisiting his roots (selling tees out of a suitcase again!) on the Johnny Cupcakes Suitcase Tour, which pulls into Red Hot Robot on Camelback Rd. and Central at 8 p.m. next Friday, April 16. Head over and pick up a designer shirt with a cupcake-and-bones on it or just to tell Johnny how much you wish he’d sell real cupcakes.
