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Carlo's Bake Shop, commonly known as Carlo's Bakery and also known as Carlo's City Hall Bake Shop, is a bakery in Hoboken, New Jersey, owned by Buddy Valastro. The bakery has gained public attention as the setting of the TLC television series, Cake Boss.
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History
In 1910, Carlo's Bakery was founded by Carlo Guastaferro, and in 1964, it was purchased by Bartolo "Buddy" Valastro, Sr. Valastro's son Buddy Valastro currently runs the bakery, with help from his four older sisters, three brothers-in-law, and other assorted family members and friends. One notable employee was Sal Picinich, who began working at the bakery shortly after the Valastro family purchased it, and continued until his death on January 30, 2011.
The bakery rose to fame with Cake Boss, a reality television series that premiered on TLC in April 2009, depicting the staff of the shop creating elaborate custom-order novelty cakes.
As a result of the popularity of Cake Boss, Carlo's Bakery built a new factory at Lackawanna Center, a mixed industrial-retail complex in nearby Jersey City. Carlo's Bakery has leased space at the complex, which is used for additional space to make specialty cakes, as well as the ability to make baked goods for shipment across the country. Because of the limited space at the Hoboken location, Carlo's Bakery was unable to ship cakes beyond normal driving distance from the bakery; the bakery had conducted a limited trial Internet sale of pies in October 2009, to test the viability of selling baked goods on the Internet.
In January 2012, as a result of the attention that has been brought to the city of Hoboken by the shop and the TV series, the Hudson Reporter named Buddy Valastro Jr. as an honorable mention in its list of Hudson County's 50 most influential people.
United States
Carlo's Bakery now has locations opened all over the country. As of December 2016, there are 14 locations open across the country in 7 states, with a further 3 in construction in 3 more states.
On May 24, 2011, Carlo's Bakery opened its first branch location, Cake Boss Cafe, at the Discovery Times Square Exposition at 226 West 44th Street in New York City's Times Square. This location offers Carlo's Bakery's smaller baked goods, as well as bakery and Cake Boss merchandise. On February 10, 2013, the Bakery opened its first full-range branch location in Ridgewood, New Jersey. On September 1, 2013, the Bakery opened its third bakery location in Westfield, New Jersey. The next bakery opened on November 23, 2013, in Red Bank, New Jersey.
In March 2014, Carlo's opened its next location in Morristown, New Jersey, as well as its first bakery on the West Coast in Las Vegas, Nevada, located in the Venetian Palazzo.
[Florida] - Orlando: Carlo's Bakery opens up in Orlando, Florida
[New Jersey] - Morristown In March 2014, Carlo's opened its next location in Morristown, New Jersey
[Nevada] - Las Vegas Carlo's Bakery opens its' first bakery on the West Coast in Las Vegas, Nevada, located in the Venetian Palazzo.
The Hoboken location is no longer in its original address, but can be found on the main street. On a good day, lines stretch for blocks.
On November 10, 2016, Carlo's opened a kiosk sized booth in Willowbrook Mall (Wayne, New Jersey), in Wayne, New Jersey, situated in front of the mall's food court.
Brazil
[Sao Paulo] - Sao Paulo On December 7, 2016, Carlo's opens its first bakery outside the United States. Managed by Rick Zavala, Batalha dos Confeiteiros Brasil's winner, a TV Reality Show exhibited by RecordTV.