Twinkies' last stand.

• Author: Taylor, Mike
• Position: BUSINESS as usual

IT'S HARD TO SAY WHETHER THE DEMAND was driven by nostalgia or sugar cravings, but the announcement by Hostess in mid-November that it was going out of business set off a wave of panic buying usually only seen when Apple unveils another gadget or Wal-Mart opens its doors on Black Friday.

Given this fresh material to work with, cartoonists had a field day, with images that included eight men dressed in black lifting a casket-sized Twinkie into a hearse; a Twinkie headstone with the inscription "R.I.P., 1930-2012; and a likeness of Stonehenge made of giant Twinkies.

Never mind that Hostess' most-loved brands--Twinkies, Suzy Q's, Ding Dongs, Zingers, fruit pies--are likely to be snapped up by another manufacturer. The company said buyers interested in some of its brands have already surfaced after Hostess failed to emerge from its second Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in less than a decade.

The people who flocked to the Hostess Outlet Store off Interstate 25 and 62nd Avenue in Denver weren't leaving that to chance as they stocked up on snack cakes, cookies, fruit pies, "Classic White" Wonder Bread and other items. And boy, did they stock up.

I arrived at the outlet store around 11 a.m. on a Saturday, Nov. 17, the day after the announcement of Hostess' demise. A sign indicating more prosperous times still hung on a chain-link fence surrounding the parking lot: "Now hiring. Apply at hostessbrands.com."

I took a spot in the line that already snaked around the store aisles and out the door. Behind me, a large man dressed in jeans, a denim shirt and a hat that said "Harrington Industrial Plastics" was filling his shopping cart: nine boxes of chocolate Zingers and 12 loaves of Home Pride bread so far, and he was just getting started.

The man, Mike Collins, 49, said he had driven about 35 miles from Johnstown, near Loveland, to stock up.

"Are you feeding an army?" asked a woman a few spots ahead in line.

"Close," Collins said. "Two families' worth. I'm loading up for my mom and dad, too."

"Do you think they have any Twinkies left?" I asked, striking up a conversation with Collins.

"I doubt it," he said. It looks pretty grim. An American icon, gone." We both nodded our heads but quickly agreed that the golden sponge cakes would likely return at some point, produced by someone else.

What won't return are the estimated 18,500 Hostess jobs nationwide, including about 160 in Denver. The company's demise was attributed to its inability to reach a compromise...