CHICAGO -- A 24-hour Cupcake ATM debuted on August 4 at Sprinkles Cupcake Chicago, the bakery shop said on its Facebook page.
To celebrate the launch, it packaged random cupcakes in the Cupcake ATM with Golden Tickets valid for up to one dozen free cupcakes, it announced. Additionally, at 11:00 am, the first 10 customers to use the Cupcake ATM each received one dozen free cupcakes.
It opened the first Cupcake ATM at its original Beverly Hills, Calif., store in March.
Candace Nelson, who founded Sprinkles, told The New York Daily News at the time that the idea for a 24-hour, self-serve unit came to her when cravings struck at strange times during one of her pregnancies.
Company spokesperson Nicole Schwartz to CNNMoney.com at the time that there will be 10 of the machines in operation by this summer, and even more by the end of the year.
(See Related Content below for previous CSP Daily News coverage of the Cupcake ATM and to view a video of it in operation.)
Sprinkles opened in 2005. It has locations in Beverly Hills, Newport Beach, Palo Alto and La Jolla, California, as well as New York City, Chicago, Washington, D.C., Dallas, Houston, and Scottsdale, Ariz.
The units will dispense freshly baked cupcakes, cupcake mixes, apparel and even cupcakes for pets, the company said.
There won't be an ATM fee, but cupcakes in the machine will cost $4, compared to $3.50 inside the store. The machines will only take credit or debit cards, no cash.
Schwartz said the selection in the machine will be rotated daily, although a few of the company's most popular selections, such as red velvet, will always be in the machine.
The machines will be able to hold 600 cupcakes at a time.
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