Death of the Ding-Dong, Twinkie, Wonder Bread: End of an Era?

Reports are that Hostess is starting to close down after a labor dispute. End of a beloved era, or good riddance to junk food heaven?

Twinkies. Hostess Cupcakes. Wonder Bread. Ding-dongs. They could be gone forever, with reports that Hostess Brands, Inc., said today that it will sell off or close down its 82-year old business. Done in, says the CEO, by labor union action. Hostess filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January. The company has been challenged by not only by snarly labor relations, and a national strike by its second-largest labor union, but also, posits the Wall Street Journal, by consumers switching to healthier foods and high ingredient costs.  But the Journal says that Hostess has threatened liquidation before, and not followed through.  But if it does liquidate, what do you think about this end to a junk-food kingdom? Will you buy some Ding-…

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Building Blocks

Opinion: Borders DTX is Another Hole in The Ground

The Borders in Downtown Crossing will close soon, victim of its parent company's bankruptcy. What should be done with the space?

What should we do about Borders? Borders Group, Inc. is in the process of liquidating its holdings, selling off the entire inventory in its 399 bookstores before going out of business forever. Here in Boston, its Back Bay branch is already closed, and last week theDowntown Crossing store advertised a 10 percent closeout sale on books in its fiction collection, with discounts of 20 - 40 percent and more expected soon. This news could not have come at a worse time for the Downtown Crossing (DTX) neighborhood. With the Filene’s hole in the ground just a block away, with the nearby 45 Province condo project less than a third sold, with the proposed One Bromfield apartment complex preparing to break ground, and with multiple retail vacancies …

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