Marcus Lemonis’ last-minute rescue of battered Crumbs Bake Shop is, in its way, not as half-baked as it may seem.
The star of CNBC’s “The Profit” did the same thing less than two years ago — only his save back then was Rose’s Bakery in Evanston, Ill.
Rose’s, which at the time needed a six-figure cash infusion to stay in business, found an unexpected savior in Lemonis, who in addition to his CNBC employment serves as the chief of Camping World and Good Sam Enterprises.
Lemonis saved the day on Dec. 24, 2012 — on what would have been Rose’s last day — by writing a $200,000 check to bakery owner Rose O’Carroll.
He became Rose’s majority owner in the process and not only kept all of the bakery’s workers in place but soon opened a second outlet in Highland Park, Ill.
A Rose’s employee, when reached on Thursday, reported the bakery has been cooking ever since and riding the gluten-free wave that in part prompted wheat-averse Lemonis to save it.
With Crumbs, however, Lemonis’ challenge appears to be much greater.
The New York-based confectionary, which unexpectedly closed all 50 of its remaining stores on Monday, reported a $15.4 million loss from operations for 2013.
And, coincident with Thursday’s news of Lemonis’ teaming with loan broker Fischer Enterprises to keep Crumbs from crumbling, Nasdaq filed notice of the bakery’s delisting.
The exchange had already suspended trading in the shares of Crumbs — valued at $66 million when it went public in April 2011 — on grounds the cupcake maker no longer met its minimum stockholders equity requirement of $2.5 million.
Oklahoma-based Fischer, which two years ago bought ice-cream maker Dippin’ Dots out of bankruptcy, was already involved with Crumbs before Lemonis entered as a potential savior.
It gave the bakery a $5 million credit facility earlier this year, leaving it with plenty of incentive to help engineer a turnaround.
Lemonis also has a lot at stake given his TV persona of turning struggling businesses into successful ones.
So far, at least, the market couldn’t be happier with the pair’s 11th-hour rescue mission. Crumbs’ stock price rose 1,200 percent Thursday – from 3 cents to 40 cents — as plans of that mission whet the appetites of investors.