Twinkies Doomed ?

I thought they could survive a nuclear holocaust along with cockroaches?

Atom bombs? Sure. Hedge fund managers? Good luck with that.

Well, . . . there's some good news, . . . and some bad news on the Twinkie-front today.

The Bad News: "Hostess Brands said Wednesday that it will go into liquidation unless bakers striking in protest against a new contract imposed in bankruptcy court return to work by the end of the day Thursday."

The Good News: "Even if Hostess does end up in liquidation, analysts say that some of its most iconic brand names -- Twinkies, Ding Dongs and Wonder Bread, to name a few -- will likely live on, getting scooped up at auction and attached to products from other companies ."

So, . . . if DonDiego understands this Good News correctly even if a large manufacturer in a large industry necessary to the welfare of America's citizens declares bankruptcy and liquidates its assets in accordance with customary bankruptcy laws, . . . . those assets, like plants and equipment and brands, like f'rinstance "Twinkie", actually do not vanish forever, but remain in existence and will thereafter represent valuable assets to another manufacturer who'll pay for them and incorporate them into his own business.

DonDiego thinks somebody misrepresented this sorta thing to him sometime in the not too distant past. He was told by somebody that if a big company in an industry necessary to the welfare of America's citizens failed the entire industry could just collapse and disappear, and the Country would no longer have that industry.
Whew? DonDiego is certainly glad that's not the case. He'd miss fried Twinkies when he's staying in Downtown Las Vegas.

Ref: CNN Money

Tatykakes are better anyway. Does anyone know why Tastykakes aren't at Walmart any longer.

Umm, . . . TastyKake ! ! !



Little DonDiego grew up on TastyKakes ! Somehow he eventually settled on Butterscotch Krimpets as his favorite, . . . even still today.

DonDiego doesn't know why Wal-Mart no longer carries them, . . . but he does know that the company is no longer independent. Flowers Foods purchased TastyKake this year. Maybe that has something to do with Wal-Mart distribution.

TastyKake had been in financial difficulty for years, and the Flowers' purchase pr'bly saved them from bankruptcy; Flowers assumed all the company's debt so's nobody got hurt.

Ref: Philadelphia Magazine

Anyways, . . . up heh' in Appalachia TastyKakes sometimes show up on the supermarket shelves for a while, and then disappear for a while. Right now KandyKakes are on the shelves, but no other varieties. But, Holy-Moly, they are expensive; the store doesn't discount them at all so's a box of 5 KandyKakes cost $3. That's jest too much for them to be in the Diego house on a regular basis.

Don Diego does not clarify who that "somebody" is. I can only guess....
Perhaps it was Paul Hoffman, former ceo of Studebaker. I'm not sure whose making those cars now or utilizing their closed plants....maybe Honda. Dont know.
Or maybe it was current Ford CEO, Alan Mullaly, who very arrogantly believes to understand the automobile industry better than poor old Don Diego.

But in any case its good to know that people dont lose jobs when their company shuts down (at least not for long). All those unemployed people in our favorite city should be relieved to know that.

Oh my.

pjstroh is mistaken. People do lose jobs when their company shuts down. DonDiego is unhappy to inform pjstroh of this; perhaps pjstroh should be skeptical of whomever informed him people don't lose jobs when companies shut down. In fact the post initiating this thread cited the loss of 627 jobs held by Hostess employees. DonDiego would prefer that all competent individuals could be employed comfortably and without fear of job loss; but that is not how the world works. DonDiego wishes those unemployed find suitable work lickety-split.

Management decisions have consequences. Bad management decisions have bad consequences. And sometimes events beyond control of management lead to bad consequences in spite of competent management, like f'rinstance, overcapacity within an industry, say the baking industry.

With respect to automobile companies in addition to Studebaker the Alena Steam Car Co., Bugmobile, Checker Motors, Detroit Cyclecar, and the Electric Vehicle Company (and that's just A-through-E) also failed. Presumedly their employees found work elsewhere.

For the record DonDiego has no part in determining what businesses survive and what businesses go under, . . . other than purchasing, f'rinstance, a Twinkie or a Plymouth. Even those decisions were insufficient to guarantee continuation of those firms.
DonDiego does not suggest a business going bankrupt is a good thing, . . . or a bad thing. Markets decide these things, . . . markets for goods, services, labor, finance, etc. DonDiego would prefer that markets determine these things rather than Government overseers.

"It's not personal. It's just business"__The Godfather

The deadline is today for the strikers and 16,000 people in total are affected.

If the company is liquidated and some of the brands continue to be produced in the closed plants the union is out and the new entity would hire new employees or the former union employees with a new pay scale which will be lower than what they are getting now.

The union would then lose.

Need to make quick trip to downtown Vegas before the deep firer goes to pot.

Be on the lookout for an upcoming YouTube clip....

Diet Coke shot out of my nose this afternoon while listening to CNBC in the car. Bill Griffeth was explaining to Maria Bartiromo that part of Hostess's problem is that nobody eats that stuff anymore.
Bill asked Maria, "When's the last time you had a ding-dong?"
...followed by a very awkward moment of silence.. and then some giggling from others in the immediate area. Maria didn't touch that one.