Moving to Athens to open an American-style bakery that focused on cupcakes may have been the best idea that Nicole Kotovos could have had. Even during the severe economic downturn in Greece, her cupcake shops have thrived and even inspired others who have grown direct competition to her.

Nicole Kotovos was searching for a way to start a new life when the idea struck her: She would go to her ancestral homeland of Greece and open an American-style bakery cafe. She would bring the cupcake fad to Athens.

What she didn't figure on was the historic downturn in the Greek economy.

The former New York TV producer arrived in 2008, just as the country's debt-mired economy was falling into a deep recession it still hasn't emerged from.

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