Lauren Wilks
How will you spend your Thanksgiving break?
NYU alumnus David Arrick makes cupcakes. Not the huge, cakey ones you'll find at Crumbs, or the colorful, sprinkle-covered creations from Magnolia Bakery. His are liquor-soaked, flat-topped monstrosities, which have been jokingly dubbed "mancakes."
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"Men like food. Men like booze. Men like beer. Men like bacon. Put them into a cupcake and it's a no-brainer," Arrick said.
Arrick, 42, has had a variety of careers in his lifetime. But the newest addition to his resume, "bakery owner," is one of the most stressful.
On a normal day Arrick wakes up, checks the delivery schedule, waits for the cupcakes to be sorted and delivered to his apartment from a commercial bakery in Queens, and spends the rest of the day personally delivering "rounds" of alcohol-infused (and dry) treats to customers in the five boroughs.
Butch Bakery, Arrick's trademarked establishment, currently produces 300 cupcakes per week, but is expected to increase production up to 2,000 per week by next month.
"I have a big sign above my desk that says: 'Relax, breathe, it's only cupcakes,'" Arrick said.
About a year ago, Arrick was wandering around the Village, in between jobs, and noticed the line outside Magnolia Bakery. In that moment he asked himself: "Where's the masculine bakery? Where's the butch bakery?"
That's when he started playing with the idea of creating a different type of cupcake that would appeal to a larger audience.
"It was really tongue-in-cheek," Arrick said, "and it just started snowballing from there, and it took on a life of its own."
Hungry to start a new career, Arrick ran with the idea and hired a web designer to create a platform to sell the cupcakes and a baker to come up with recipes. Arrick designed a business plan, began marketing the concept on social networking sites and launched the Bakery's website to take online orders in late December 2009.
The cupcakes started to catch a buzz, but as Arrick recalls, it was not until Feb. 12 that it took off.
"For more than 72 hours, my phone, I couldn't use it. It was inoperable. I got 600,000 hits on my website alone," Arrick said.
Feb. 12 was the day that Daily Candy published a piece recommending Arrick's cupcakes. Butch Bakery was overwhelmed with Valentine's Day orders, and business has not slowed since.
At the top of Butch Bakery's web site, a notification reads: "New orders will not be delivered until the week of 3/22."
"So far, it's been challenging," Arrick said. "I'm learning how to prioritize. What's important, what e-mails are important."
After business increased, Arrick hired an assistant, Kathleen Flaherty, a former paralegal, to help with some of the administrative work.
"David, having been in business for years, is a great businessman, but is also very concerned with creating an amicable work environment," Flaherty said. "Which, to be honest, is quite refreshing after two years in corporate America."
A graduate of the Tisch School of the Arts, Arrick pursued acting for many years after college, but eventually decided he wanted more security and went to law school. When the recession hit, he was the first to be cut from a large firm, and was again left looking for a job. Fortunately, his next idea turned into a career.
"I put my creative self to bed when I became a lawyer. I had to. And suddenly it's rearing its creative self right now," Arrick said.
Meagan Sullivan, manager of conferencing and special events at the NYU School of Law, said the cupcakes are bright and refreshing and the service is impeccable.
"I received my delivery from the owner, David. What more could a client ask for?" she said.
Now, Arrick is juggling the day-to-day struggles of managing a new business while fielding phone calls from the Food Network, publishers and press around the world. He plans to open a location in Manhattan — most likely downtown — and hopes to begin shipping cupcakes nationally within a few months.
"I just started creating a buzz once I realized I had hit onto an idea," Arrick said. "I'm still in shock."
