Hostess Cupcakes Coming Back?

Image from source, Pink is the New Blog

It's funny how you can miss something you likely haven't bought much in decades, but many Americans got very sad about the demise of Hostess Brands several months back. The Wonder Bread (and other breads) division were gobbled up already, but the Twinkies and Ho-Hos have been mia ever since. And in the meantime, other companies have really stepped up their game, notably Tastykake and Little Debbie, which has packaging very much like just about every Hostess Brand, prominently displayed where the Ding Dongs used to be!

Well, move over Debbie (you vulture), Hostess is coming back!

[Excerpt]

Twinkies May Return To Store Shelves This Summer

Remember back in November when we learned the HORRIBLE news that Hostess snack foods was going out of business and would no longer be producing delicious dessert treats like Twinkies anymore? Well, I’ve got some good news for ya. A joint bid by two companies successfully won the right to produce Twinkies and other Hostess snack foods for sale again … which means that “America’s favorite snacks” might be back on store shelves by the Summer! ISN’T THAT THE BEST NEWS EVER?! . . .

Read more at: Pink is the New Blog

Atari Files for Bankruptcy

I love this picture. I'm sure there are full grown adults who have
no idea what it is. Image from source, HuffPo.

Again? I know that Atari has been owned by many different companies (it was Warner Brothers at one time), and gone through huge ups and downs. But I really didn't know "Atari" was still a stand-alone company. This is like me thinking that Conrad Bain, Jack Klugman and Charles Durning were long dead, and not just recently so. What has happened to my pop culture knowledge? Man, it sucks getting old!

[Excerpt]

Atari's U.S. Operations File For Bankruptcy

Video game maker Atari's U.S. operations have filed for bankruptcy protection in an effort to separate from their French parent company. In a statement, Atari says the move is necessary to secure investments it needs to grow in mobile and digital gaming. . .

Read more at: Huffington Post

Blast from the Past: Classic Hostess Commericals

Considering that the Hostess company died at the end of last week, I couldn't possibly use any other subject for my weekly Blast from the Past column, could I? I mean, yes, this is also Thanksgiving week, but for my final column before the holiday season starts, it has to be Hostess, a huge part of American pop culture, and especially any kid of the 70s like me.

Surely a company will swoop in and rescue our favorite brands. If they need any proof of the resonance of Twinkies, HoHos and other Hostess cupcakes,  they need look no further than this post!

And with that, we'll start our new (shortened) Thanksgiving week. Happy Monday, everybody.

RIP Hostess Cupcakes & Wonder Bread

Image from source, Think Progress.

By now, you've heard the sad, sad news. Hostess, maker of Twinkies, HoHos, Sno-Balls, Suzy-Qs, Wonder Bread, Zingers, Dunkin' Stix, Cup Cakes, Ding Dongs, Fruit Pies and other tasty-but-bad-for-you treats, has passed away. As a child of the 70s, this is very sad new indeed, even if I've rarely purchased a Hostess product this century.

When I was a kid, Hostess and Dolly Madison marketed heavily to kids, in an era of much more limited media. We had three commercial channels on TV (especially Saturday mornings), we had the funny pages in the newspaper, comic books and that was about it. We got introduced to Twinkie the Kid and King Ding Dong along with all of the Kellogg's, Post and General Mills cereal characters. Since they were all animated characters, they blurred with our kids' programming. In the comics, they even had adventures with Superman and Batman! So, the Hostess company was really intertwined with 70s pop culture.

Image from New York Post.

My step-dad had a part time job at Kroger, and was able to liberate many products past their sell-by dates, and bring them home to us. That meant lots of fruits and veggies that needed the bad spots cut away. But it also meant a freezer full of wondrous things, and that included the Kroger version of Twinkies, Cup Cakes, HoHos and more. Nobody knew the difference when I pulled them out of my lunchbox, but I knew. By the time I got a paper route at 12 or 13, I was using my earnings to get the real thing: Hostess brands! There was also my Wise Cheez Waffies/Andy Capp's Hot Fries addictions, and my insatiable DC Comics lust, which was my eventual downfall as a paperboy, but that's beside the point. The point is, Hostess was as much a part of my childhood as The Super-Friends, The Six-Million Dollar Man, 45 records, Farrah Fawcett, ABBA and disco.

Image from MarsWillSendMore.
(Click to embiggen)

Much of the news has centered on a strike by union workers that effectively "killed" the company. But that doesn't tell the whole story. There were huge management salaries, and basic mismanagement for many years. Multiple bankruptcies. The company seemed close to death a couple of times before. So before you go finger-wagging at the unions, get the whole story. And be consoled by the fact that Hostess--as a whole, or in parts--will be revived by others.

You can pretty much guarantee that most if not all of their main snack cakes lines will be marketed by another company. Subsidiaries and offshoots may never come back, but who knows?  If you go to the Wikipedia pages for Kellogg's, Campbell's, Kraft Foods, Nestle, Hershey and others, you will find long lists of products you didn't realize were under one roof. You'll find brands that were bought and sold back and forth, consolidations, divestitures, spin-offs. Beatrice Foods at one time owned a bunch of popular brands, and they went under. Most of the product lines survived, still today produced by others. Kraft owns Nabisco, but it wasn't always that way. So, if the Hostess liquidation makes you sad, chin up. They'll be back. And, oh, it just hit me! Liquidation? Could that be the new variation of Twinkies, after fried? Liquid Twinkies! mmmmmmmmmmmmm

[Excerpt]

Hostess Blames Union For Bankruptcy After Tripling CEO’s Pay

Today, Hostess Brands inc. — the company famed for its sickly sweet desert snacks like Twinkies and Sno Balls — announced they’d be shuttering after more than eighty years of production. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

American Airlines Files for Bankruptcy

Image from source, Washington Post

You know what I don't like about this? I mean beside the fact that I have a friend that works for American. It's that the headline sounds like all of the nation's airlines filed for bankruptcy. American Airlines as in all American airlines. And I always wondered if that isn't why terrorists chose AA and United. Both sound like the country's airline industry. And don't forget, when we had anthrax attacks, one of the targets was American Media. Makes you think, right?

Anyway, having United in the family, and seeing how they came out of the hole, maybe AA can as well. Here's hoping.

[Excerpt]


American Airlines parent files for bankruptcy

Saddled with an aging fleet of aircraft and high labor costs, the parent company of American Airlines filed for bankruptcy Tuesday, seeking protection from creditors while it restructures its operations. . .

Read more at: Washington Post

Ultimate Electronics Goes Out of Business

Image from source, OregonLive

We're really going to be down to like two or three of every kind of retailer, aren't we? If you want hardware, it's Lowe's or Home Depot. Books? Borders or Barnes & Noble. Big club store? Sam's Club or Costco. I know that these can be regional, but it seems most categories boil down to a "big two," and sometimes even just one major retailer. Electronics (or specialty electronics, like just computers) used to be a little more diversified. And you can still walk into a Wal-mart or Kmart if you don't mind a Somy or a Yamaham instead of the real thing. But I'll bet wherever you live in the US of A, you've got just a couple of chains devoted to electronics.

We now have one less. In what has become a very familiar scenario, Ultimate Electronics is in the process of being liquidated. It's where a liquidation company comes in, slaps signs up all over that says "up to 30% OFF EVERYTHING IN THE STORE!" And yes, the "up to" is supposed to be that small, because they don't want you to notice it. As the days or weeks go by, and the store inventory dwindles, the signs change to 40%, 50% and so on until everything is gone. Over the last several years, this has happened at Computer City, Comp USA and Circuit City, and I'm certain many others. It's always very exciting for a shopper, making you weigh today's deal against what it might be in a few days if you just wait (and they don't sell it while you're dithering). Of course, there are no returns, so you'd better be sure!

It's kind of like an estate sale though, with a layer of bitter under the sweet.  At an estate sale, you're picking through the remnants of a person's entire life.  They're selling things that the person had for most of their lives for a couple of bucks, and you're trying to talk them down. It always makes me a little sad. In the case of a liquidation, usually nobody has died. But you're being waited on by people who have been abruptly laid off. Except they've got to keep working, selling not only a progressively sadder collection of things, but also the shelves, the displays, the office furniture. . . See? Sad. I commiserated with the handsome young man who sold me a stereo at Ultimate Electronics today. He'd been told only in the last day or so, and here he is losing his job, but still nice as could be, carrying the stereo to my car. I told him I was sorry, even felt like giving him a tip. I got a great deal on the stereo (which will compliment and complete my other recent purchases nicely). But I felt sad at the same time.

And think of the poor guy, Mark Wattles, who started the company. He also lost Hollywood Video not long ago. Sad for him too.
[Excerpt]

Ultimate Electronics begins liquidating



As a bankruptcy court in Delaware officially approved Ultimate Electronics' request to clear out and shut down Friday, customers were streaming into the nearly 3-month-old Tigard store scouting out its going-out-of-business sale. . .
 
Read more at: OregonLive

Franken: Medical Bankruptcies in Countries w/Universal Care Zero

I knew that having Al Franken as Senator would be a good thing.

[Excerpt]

Franken Schools Right-Wing Analyst On Medical Bankruptcies In Countries With Universal Care: ‘It’s Zero’



Yesterday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held a hearing titled “Medical Debt: Can Bankruptcy Reform Facilitate a Fresh Start.” The hearing examined medical bankruptcies in America, and witnesses included CAP fellow Elizabeth Edwards and Kerry Burns, a Rhode Island mother who was forced into “financial ruin” by her late son’s medical bills. . .

Read more at: Think Progress

What Happens in Vegas: Station Casinos Files for Bankruptcy

Image of Viva, from Vegas Today and Tomorrow

If you visit Las Vegas, you might not be aware of "locals casinos." Many people who visit here often don't venture far from the strip, which is actually in the township of Paradise, and not in Las Vegas at all. I even remember flying home to Vegas one time, and overhearing a woman who was pointing to the ground. She exclaimed, "Look at all of those houses down there! What are they for?"

Those of us who live here in the valley (despite most of it not actually being Las Vegas, we call it that anyway), try to stay far, far away from the strip. If we do have a gambling itch, we head off to a locals casino, like Silverton, South Point, Orleans, or SunCoast. They're typically smaller, and infinitely more accessible. The largest chain of local joints is Station Casinos, a company whose holdings rival that of the "big boys" like Harrah's and MGM/Mirage. In recent years, they've expanded into a more upscale market, which I wouldn't have believed when they consisted of mainly the dumpy Boulder Station, and the dumpier Palace Station.

They went mid-range with Sunset Station, bought Texas Station and the Fiestas. Then they built Green Valley Ranch Station, which was by far swankier than the rest. And when they built Red Rock, they got so up-market, they even dropped the "Station" moniker. Add to this other expansions and planned expansions all over the valley (including the projected mega-project, Viva), then the economy happened. And Station has finally hit the brakes. They pledge that their properties and employees won't notice a difference, and I really hope that's true. They started out sort of an underdog, and turned into an amazing success. Here's hoping that it's a minor setback in the scheme of things.

[Excerpt]

Station Casinos files for Chapter 11

Las Vegas locals gaming leader Station Casinos Inc. and certain subsidiaries filed for a standard Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization Tuesday after Station was unable to reach agreement with creditors on a prepackaged bankruptcy deal. . .

Read more at: Las Vegas Sun

Air America Radio Hits Five Year Anniversary

Image from source, LTR

Many people reading that headline might be confused. If you listen to Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, or watch Bill O'Reilly on FOX "News," you might think that Air America Radio expired long ago. It is true that they've had a rocky history, have filed for bankruptcy (and come through it). It is also true that their long-term future is far from certain, with all of the radio industry in much the same boat. But it says something that they've managed to stay alive so long, in a field that is so hostile to their format.

Now, the big question is, will former AAR star Al Franken be seated as Junior Senator from Minnesota? And will AAR still be around on the day that he is sworn in? I'm crossing my fingers for both.

[Excerpt]

Five years later: Air America and the mainstreaming of progressive talk

. . .Obviously, there was left-leaning talk before Air America. Perhaps we should go back in history to explain why and how Air America came into being. In the late 1940s, long before something like Air America was even imaginable, a non-profit organization, Pacifica, was founded with a somewhat similar aim in mind, albeit in a more cultural, less soapbox-like kind of way. In the late 1960s, free-form rock stations emerged on the then-obscure FM dial, complete with left-leaning disc jockeys free to express their views on politics and the emerging counterculture in between long music sets featuring artists like Bob Dylan and The Doors expressing views on the the same issues via their songs. Talk radio was then a novelty on AM, compared to today. Most AM stations still played music. But the talk stations that did exist were locally-oriented and featured a variety of views and opinions. . .

Read more at: LTR

ATA Bankruptcy Fallout

Wow. First Aloha Airlines goes landing gear up, and now ATA, inside a week. And ATA had military contracts, making things even stickier. Yikes.

[Excerpt]

ATA's Demise Deprives Military Of Its Services

CHICAGO -(Dow Jones)- The collapse of ATA Airlines Inc. on Thursday has deprived the U.S. military of its largest civilian air carrier.

The Indianapolis airline filed for bankruptcy protection and ceased all operations Thursday morning, blaming the "unexpected" termination of a military transport subcontract overseen by FedEx Corp. (FDX). . .

Read more at: CNN