Tonnie’s Minis cupcake shop is once again open for business after being forced to shutter in May due to bad business decisions and issues with the Health Department, the owner explained. The store at 4738 Broadway reopened October 24 with a redesigned interior and new business model — and a plan to get back to basics after a bumpy past year. Tonnie Rozier, who built a following by opening a store in the West Village and later expanding to Harlem and The Bronx, admitted to making some missteps over the past year that came at a serious cost. Shortly after launching the Inwood store, Rozier struck a deal with Dallas BBQ to bake 60,000 cupcakes each week for the restaurants 11 New York City locations. The demand quickly overwhelmed Rozier and his staff. Rozier decided to shut the Inwood location for a few months to regroup beginning in November 2013. He closed his Harlem location permanently a month later. He rents kitchen space at a business incubator on 168th Street in The Bronx and is doing most of the baking himself, a habit he’d gotten away from as the business grew. Tonnie is now focused on rebuilding his business — one cupcake at a time: LINK
“My hope is to regain the trust of the community,” he said, “and to share the Tonnie’s experience with Inwood the way I did in Harlem.”
