Grocery stores across Missouri are running out of Twinkies and other Hostess products, following today’s announcement that the company is going out of business.
Shoppers had already been snapping up Twinkies, Ding Dongs and other Hostess-made snacks prior to the announcement that the company was closing. Lori Willis is spokeswoman for the St. Louis-based Schnucks grocery chain. She says they expect to completely run out of Hostess snack products by Saturday.
“As a retailer, this is the very last thing you want to hear, that you’re not going to be able to meet the needs of your customers, so we’re working very hard with a lot of other suppliers to make sure that we can fill in where we can," Willis said.
Sheila Lowrie is spokeswoman for Gerbes grocery stores in Missouri. She says they received their last shipment of Hostess snacks earlier today and won't be surprised if they're all gone by tomorrow.
“We may have a few remaining boxes in the back room at a store location, but really the product that we have is going to be found on our shelves," Lowrie said. "I’m sure with all of the coverage that we’re seeing about this story demand will go up, so I anticipate we will be out of stock very soon.”
It appears that some customers have no intention of eating the snacks. There are currently more than 1,500 listings on E-Bay advertising boxes of Twinkies for sale.
Hostess shut down operations in response to its union employees going on strike. The company's CEO said in a written statement that they did not have the "financial resources to weather a nationwide strike." Meanwhile, an earlier statement from the Bakery, Confectionery, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers International Union (BCTGM) said that Hostess is in its current shape due to "nearly a decade of financial and operational mismanagement that resulted in two bankruptcies, mountains of debt, declining sales and lost market share."
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