Like most people, life-long entrepreneur Steve Abrams craves sweets – and he couldn't resist when one of the original owners of the Magnolia Bakery put the iconic West Village shop on the block four years ago.
"Magnolia is internationally famous," said Abrams, 53. "I saw that it had wonderful potential."
Since buying the homey store catapulted to stardom by "Sex and the City," Abrams – a college dropout and former New York restaurateur and construction company owner – has been carefully plotting Magnolia's expansion.
Unlike rival Crumbs Bake Shop, which recently went public and is gobbling up store locations, Abrams has opted for slower growth, adding three Manhattan shops, one in Los Angeles and another in a Bloomingdale's outpost in Dubai. A Magnolia production plant will open in Harlem in a few weeks. Last year the chain's sales approached $20 million.
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