Hostess Closing Means Family Might Have To Rethink Breakfast

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- If you harbor a craving for Twinkies, Cupcakes or Ho Hos, you might be out of luck.

Hostess -- the iconic treat maker -- is going out of business.

People lined up Friday outside the Hostess bakery outlet in Mounds View, Minn., a half hour before it opened. News spread quickly about Hostess closing up shop, and many made sure they had stockpiles of what they love the most.

End of An Era

Gerry Pridgen and many others remembered making the weekly trip to the bakery.

"We used to live in East St. Paul. When we were kids, the Wonder bakery wasn't too far from our house, and we would walk over there and we'd get a loaf of bread and a treat, and it was just the biggest things in our lives that we could do that," Pridgen said.

Hostess is closing down after failing to reach an agreement with striking workers. When the news spread, people flocked to Hostess bakery outlets. Many looked like the one in Mounds View, with the shelves bare.

Mounds View quickly ran out of Twinkies and Ho-Hos. As for the Ding Dongs, the Remme family took care of those.

"She always makes Dad go to the store when she doesn't have any right away," said Danielle Remme, talking about her mother.

Ding Dongs have for years been a part of the Remme family breakfast.

"She eats them every morning for breakfast since she was 20," Remme said.

The family bought $30.93 worth of Ding Dongs. They freeze really well, apparently.

The treat is now a part of Americana that's hard to find.

Even the shelves at the Target store in Fridley are without Hostess products. Some say it may bring the country back full circle, to the way things used to be.

"You know, mothers better start baking," Pridgen said.

I searched nine different stores, and could not find a Twinkie anywhere. I did check eBay and craiglist; the best I could find was eight boxes of Twinkies for $200.