Recession-Busting Businesses

MYFOXNY.COM - Despite the recession, some businesses in New York are booming. For example, Five Guys hamburger franchise is cashing in on the demand for comfort food.

"From a business standpoint we are doing great," says John Rigos of Five Guys. "Sales are up 25 to 30 percent in over a year in the three stores we have open now."

The company is opening a new restaurant on Third Avenue in the next few of weeks.

"We have very aggressive expansion plans because I think with the recession as it is right now, prices are finally coming down," he says.

Stuart Elliott, the editor of the real estate magazine the Real Deal, says that since the 2008 fallout on Wall Street, rents have declined significantly. That has really given a lot of new retailers the opportunity to open up in the city.

But some new businesses don't even worry about rents. That is because Lev Ekster cooked up the concept of selling cupcakes from a truck.

"So instead of waiting for the customers to come to us we come to the customer," he says.

His company, CupCakeStop, launched in June selling chocolate, red velvet, and pineapple crumb cupcakes. Five months later, he is tasting sweet success.

"We are working hard and we are starting to expand," Lev says. "We have more followers on Twitter now and we are more events."

He has close to 10,000 Twitter followers who are crazy for cupcakes.

The law school grad recently signed a deal to sell his cupcakes inside the Limelight marketplace. The former Episcopal church that later became the infamous Limelight nightclub is now being converted into retail space.

"Now we come to a crossroads where we are looking to see if it makes sense to expand into a retail store, now brick and mortar," he says. "Or does it make sense to add trucks to our fleet."

Ekster is also helping raise money for charities with celebrities like Joan Cusack, and he will even park his truck outside your next event.

He has a small recipe for surviving in this economy.

"As long as you maintain quality and good service, and you work hard, good things happen," Lev says.