Hellobee Boards

Twinkies and orange cupcakes!

Fruit pie, especially the lemon ones. Yumyumyum.

And the cupcakes, of course.

Gasp! Sad!

Wow! Hostess Cupcakes were like- a part of my childhood! They were so good and little kids can eat them and not feel guilty! I have to say I'm a little sad that they won't be part of H's life!!!

Twinkies and Cupcakes! This is really sad news!

@Mrs. Jacks: Yah you're right, I'm sure the CEO will come out ok. I was surprised though that according to the WSJ, the private equity firm probably won't make anything:

"Hostess's current private equity owner, Ripplewood Holdings, is unlikely to recover anything in the liquidation."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324556304578122632560842670.html

The labor situation was actually pretty complicated... the Teamsters had seen the financials and were on board, but another union refused to accept the contract and were striking. That's what drove them under.

It sounds like there was plenty of blame to go around here. I don't think the employees were blameless in this situation.

I don't like any of their products. My husband likes the orange things though. It is sad that they are going out of business.

@mrbee: I totally agree that it's a very complicated situation. I was trying to get up to speed this morning. I find it interesting that management had already claimed that the strike would be responsible for the closings of specific plants—when it had already planned to close plants even if the workers accepted the cuts and stayed at work. http://stlouis.cbslocal.com/2012/11/13/slay-i-was-told-months-ago-about-hostess-closure/

BCTGM workers seemed to know what they were getting into, but based on how they were squeezed in the 2004 bankruptcy and the 2011 pension cuts, decided to take a hard line:
http://www.aflcio.org/Blog/Organizing-Bargaining/BCTGM-Members-at-Hostess-Strike-Baker

I also did read the WSJ article and here is another article from July which paints the Teamsters and BCTGM in different lights. (The opposite of what the WSJ article seemed to imply). Either way, the obstinance was probably pretty bone-headed and likely made a bad situation worse.
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2012/07/26/hostess-twinkies-bankrupt/
I guess that what these differing articles tell me is that the truth hasn't been fully revealed yet. I also like how the Fortune article provides more details about Ripplewood Holdings. I found it VERY interesting.

I'm sure there is more yet to unfold with this.

I liked the Hostess cupcakes.

What!? Noooo! I still eat the cupcakes on a regular basis! I can't wait to be off of my dairy free diet so I can have like 20 of them!

Ugh...this upsets me not only BC I love their tasty cakes but BC I live in the city where the main strike was being held and I know a lot of people losing their jobs and we're a small enough town that we just can't offer that many people jobs. Very sad situation, this will really have an impact on the economy in my town.

I know! So sad! I'm going to buy a ton of twinkies and freeze it. Okay, not a ton but I do want to buy some so my boys can experience it before it's all gone...for good.

I feel bad for the 18,500 employees that will likely all lose their jobs.

@krsmall: Yeah, I was under the impression that this was the doing of the Baker's/etc union.

Cupcakes are SO nostaligc for me. My dad always ate them when I was a kid. He always had Fridays off and whenever I had a day off school, he would take me fishing. We would stop on the way to the bait shop and buy milk and Hostess Cupcakes. I don't eat them anymore... but I'm still sad.

My hometown is being greatly affected by this. There's a Dolly Madison Bakery there (owned by Hostess) and it's shutting down. 400 people were laid off this morning.

@DpeachLu: I love zingers too! BTW, your name completely threw me off. I saw your picture and hit reply and thought there was a glitch because it came up as your new name!