Recession Hits Home

I had thought myself personally rather immune from the effects of the economic downturn until I received some very bad news in the cookie aisle, confirmed by this Battle Creek Enquirer report:

Citing rising food and fuel costs, two subsidiaries of Archway & Mother's Cookie Company Inc. have filed for bankruptcy, effectively shutting down the firm's U.S. operations.

In a news release, Archway said the subsidiaries, Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. and Archway Cookies LLC, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Monday in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The announcement came three days after the company sent notices to the cities of Battle Creek and Ashland, Ohio, stating that the two locations would close, putting approximately 160 people out of work, 59 of those in Battle Creek.

Can these guys get a bailout, please?

And if "rising food and fuel costs" are really the problem, can't they change their mind now that the downturn has caused commodity prices to fall?

The next stimulus check goes straight into cookies.