The Fast Food Chain That Is Now Opening On Sundays (And It's About Time)

If you're familiar with the bakery chain Nothing Bundt Cakes, you know that fans crave the creative, frosted treats and often demand them for birthdays, office parties, and other events. Until recently, if that event landed on a Sunday, there was a possibility your local store might not be open. But beginning February 2, 2025, all 600-plus Nothing Bundt Cakes locations are required to open on Sundays, according to several reports.

This is fantastic news for those with Sunday parties and last-minute shoppers seeking a creative treat. Whether it's a full-sized red velvet cake, the brand's popular Bundtlets personal cakes, or Bundtinis by The Dozen (why, oh why, can't they be purchased individually?), the shop has enough party options and whimsically decorated cakes to charm any recipient. There are even gluten free items to choose from.

However, some franchisees have been pushing back against the new mandate. Whether it's because of slow Sunday traffic, work-life balance, religious reasons, or just a feeling that the company atmosphere has changed, some store owners are concerned about the mandate. Considering that chains like Target have begun closing on major holidays (partly in response to concern for workers' needs), and chains like McDonald's are now allowing franchise owners to decide if they're open on Thanksgiving or not, it seems possible we'll be hearing more about this corporate decision as it's implemented.

The plan to open on Sundays goes back more than a year, according to reports. Beginning in December, 2023, select stores across the country began opening on Sundays, according to a Facebook post on the company's official page. There, it announced, "Celebrating is now easier than ever with more time to pick up your favorite sweet treats."

The brainchild of Dena Tripp and Debbie Shwetz, the Bundt cake-centric bakery chain launched in 1997. It was acquired, first by private equity firm Levine Leichtman Capital Partners in 2016 (with Tripp retaining majority ownership), then by Atlanta-based Roark Capital in 2021, when Tripp left the company. Reasons for franchise owner and employee pushback are multi-faceted. One owner in Northern California told CNN that being able to close was a primary reason he purchased a franchise in the first place. In addition, business is slow in the college town his store is located in, yet he will have to pay staff during the added day, not to mention account for an increase in utility and supply bills. 

In Utah, where many businesses close on Sundays for religious reasons (slightly less than half of the state's population identifies as a member of the LDS church or Mormon), a state representative is working with some franchisees to create a bill protecting religious freedoms. For many Utah franchise owners, the concerns are that the contracts they signed specifically stipulated that the stores could close on Sundays, along with concerns about finding employees willing to work on Sunday.

There's a possible compromise on the horizon. According to QSR Magazine, Roark Capital and Nothing Bundt Cakes initially delayed implementing a mandated Sunday opening by a year due to franchise owner concerns. Moving forward, Nothing Bundt Cakes will consider individual exceptions to the rule following six months of Sunday sales and base its decisions on market data. So far (via QSR), no exceptions to the rule have been approved. However, the news may impact your local store. Some franchise owners have announced their intention to sell, while others will continue to push for exemptions. State governments, like Utah's, may also have a say.

For consumers, in general, the news is deliciously good. Trying to rush from work to a store is often a challenge when it closes at 6 p.m. on weekdays and all day Sunday. The new regulations require stores to be open 62 hours per week, with at least five of those hours during peak times on Sunday. While that's a boon for cake-hungry customers, for Nothing Bundt Cake franchise owners and their employees, there is much more to consider.