BOSTON - Johnny Cupcakes is closing its flagship Boston store after 18 years on Newbury Street.

Sunday will be the final day of business for the T-shirt shop. Founder Johnny Earle, a Hull native, posted to Facebook that the decision comes after a difficult year in which he lost his mother and had his store burglarized. 

Not a bakery

Despite its sweet name, there are no desserts served up at the store, which often leaves tourists confused. Inside, the shop smells like frosting and resembles a vintage bakery with graphic t-shirts displayed inside refrigerators and packaged up in pastry boxes.

"Our bakery aesthetic is so convincing, that customers are usually convinced they are walking into a bakery expecting to get a cupcake," the website says.

Johnny Cupcakes has developed a diehard fan base over the years. The company says some top collectors own hundreds of their shirts, while at least 2,000 customers have gotten a tattoo of the brand's cupcake and crossbones logo.

The brand and its customers also have a history of giving back. WBZ-TV reported on Johnny Cupcakes raising thousands of dollars for Australian wildfire relief with custom T-shirts back in 2020. They also raised more than $20,000 for flooding in Texas before that, and just this week Johnny Cupcakes designed a special T-shirt to benefit the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank in the wake of devastating fires.

What's happening to Johnny Cupcakes?

Earle says Johnny Cupcakes will continue to have online T-shirt releases, but not as frequently as the company focuses on "quality over quantity."

Fans should also stay tuned for in-person pop-up shop tour dates, which will be announced soon.