NYC’s Magnolia Bakery is bringing its cupcakes and banana pudding to Philadelphia and South Jersey

Magnolia Bakery, the New York institution known for its cupcakes, banana pudding, and other classic American desserts, is entering the Philadelphia market. The two franchise shops will be operated by a pair of North Jersey natives who grew up visiting the bakery in Manhattan.

The first location will open Nov. 17 in Centerton Square, 10 Centerton Rd., Mount Laurel. A second is planned for spring 2027 at 204 S. 17th St., near Rittenhouse Square. That location has a flour-y past; it was briefly Chip City Cookies until that company crumbled, but for more than a decade it was home to Miel Patisserie.

Both Magnolia locations will make their baked goods on-site, said franchise partners Jake Klein and John Candela, both 29, who met while attending Muhlenberg College in Allentown.

Magnolia, founded in Manhattan’s West Village in 1996, gained a national following for its cupcakes after Sarah Jessica Parker enjoyed one on Sex and the City. Its banana pudding later went viral. The company was acquired in 2021 by RSE Ventures, a private-investment firm founded by developer Stephen Ross and entrepreneur Matt Higgins. It has since pursued growth through franchising and packaged products, and began offering U.S. franchises last year.

For Klein, who previously operated four Jersey Mike’s franchises in the Pittsburgh area, Magnolia was a familiar brand long before it became a business opportunity.

He recalled first tasting the banana pudding at a backyard gathering when he was a boy. He liked it so much that his mother tracked down the recipe and made it throughout the summer. “I was addicted to it,” he said.

After selling his Jersey Mike’s businesses, Klein began exploring franchise opportunities with Candela, whose background is in finance. Candela spent three years selling mortgage-backed securities at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.

In what Klein had considered a “light bulb idea,” the partners thought about approaching Magnolia, unaware that it had just announced plans to franchise domestically.

Candela has relocated to Philadelphia. Klein, who is relocating to Cherry Hill, has family connections to South Jersey. His grandmother’s family operated Seliger’s luncheonette at Richey and Magill Avenues in Collingswood. It closed in 1972.

The Mount Laurel shop, about 1,200 square feet, occupies a former Deka Lash salon in Centerton Square. Klein said its accessibility and proximity to communities including Moorestown, Marlton, and Cherry Hill made it attractive.

The Rittenhouse location, approximately 1,150 square feet, required less extensive conversion because it had previously operated as a bakery. It will have limited seating.

Neither partner is a professional baker. They hired Cathie Pastor as production director. She taught pastry and culinary arts for 15 years at Mercy Vocational High School and worked as a pastry chef at Philadelphia’s Union League for 10 years. The three underwent more than a month of training at Magnolia’s New York bakeries, learning about production, including the company’s signature cupcake icing swirl.

Klein said the training has paid dividends in his home kitchen, too. He now makes a chocolate chip-walnut cookie from scratch that his wife loves. It’s not Magnolia’s recipe, he said, though the couple has worked their way through the bakery’s recipe book, including the banana pudding.

His tip for making the pudding at home? Patience.

“You’ve got to let it set,” he said. “You can’t go right into a banana pudding when you’re making it at home. It’s got to spend at least a few hours, if not overnight, in the fridge. And it makes all the difference.”

The partners are exploring additional locations along the Main Line, including Ardmore, Wayne, and Radnor, as well as Cherry Hill and Haddonfield. No additional leases have been signed.

Candela said the appeal of leaving finance was partly entrepreneurial, but also personal: the opportunity to sell something that could brighten someone’s day.

Klein emphasized that the expanding national brand will have local operators behind it.

“We’re the type of operators that folks will see in the store time and time again, day in and day out,” he said. “We’re not passive investors in this whatsoever.”