Twinkies maker halting bread operations in Southern California, cutting 1,300 jobs

KC.com ^ | 8/28/07 | JENNIFER MANN

[BurbankKarl]

Troubled Interstate Bakeries Corp., in bankruptcy since September 2004, early today said it is closing four bread bakeries in Southern California.

The closings will eliminate 1,300 jobs, which besides those in the bakeries, include jobs impacted by route consolidations. Interstate, the maker of iconic Hostess Twinkies, will continue to make and sell snack cakes in Southern California.

In midday over-the-counter trading, Interstate Bakeries shares were up 10 cents, or 9.09 percent, at $1.20.

The company said the pullout was due to lower-cost, non-union competitors, and irrational pricing,

Those factors, combined with high fixed costs, have continued to make the market unprofitable for the Kansas City based baking company, one of the largest in the U.S., and also the maker of Wonder bread.

“Because of the impact on employees and their families, exiting a market is probably the most difficult decision a company can make,” Chief Executive Officer Craig Jung said in a news release. “At the same time, our primary consideration has to be the company’s long-term survival and financial health.”

[Lurker]

Mrs. L moved out of Sonoma ten years ago. Her parents fled there 2 years ago.

L

[gimme1ibertee]

Awwww......Homer Simpson is considering suicide right about now....as well as Officer Al Powell from “Die Hard”. :D

[lormand]

That part of California seems to me as a dead end for creating new opportunities for the people who live there.