Hostess liquidation affects Dickinson, Little Debbie

• Hostess

Press Photo by Katherine Grandstrand The Sweetheart Bakery Outlet, seen here Monday evening, is one of several retailers the carry(ied) Hostess brand treats and baked goods. Dickinson stores, like those around the country, saw fans of the brand that makes Twinkies and Wonder Bread flocking to get what could be their last taste of childhood treats.

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Friday’s announcement that Hostess brands, makers of Twinkies and Wonder Bread, wished to liquidate after filing for bankruptcy, sent fans of the spongy treats running to the store for what could possibly their final taste.

In Dickinson, it was no different. By Monday The Pit Stop had only a few odd Hostess pastries left, cashier Melissa Urick said.

“It was gone the first — well, the next day I came in and every one of our Twinkies were gone,” she said.

The store was sold out of Twinkies and other popular treats by Saturday morning, said Urick, who answered the call from the Hostess distributor Friday.

“We need it back,” she said of Hostess treats. “Customers miss it.”

McKee Food Corp.’s pastry division, Little Debbie, maker of Swiss Cake Rolls and Cosmic Brownies, is preparing its employees for the possibility it may need to fill a hole in the market, said Mike Gloekler, corporate communications and public relations director.

“I think we’ll see more once the shelf-stock of Hostess products finally fully dries up,” he said of a change in the Little Debbie market. “From what we’re seeing or hearing from our folks out in the field that’s happening pretty quick.”

It was announced Monday that Hostess and the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union will enter into mediation before Judge Robert Drain would allow the 82-year-old company to begin liquidation.

“We could wake up at some point this week and somebody agreed to budge, and everything’s back to normal,” Gloekler said. “It’s still kind of hit-or-miss, nothing is set in stone right now.”

McKee, the Collegedale, Tenn.-based baker was also concerned about the 18,000-plus workers who will be out of work should Hostess liquidate.

“We’re a family-owned company,” Gloekler said. “We believe very strongly in taking care of our people and that’s painful for us to see that happen to people.”

Tags: wonder bread, news, business, hostess, twinkies