A Pine Bluff company wants to buy the now bankrupt Hostess
Brand.
Cookies & Sweets Bakeries of Pine Bluff has filed a
motion in a New York bankruptcy court to buy the Twinkie creator. Click here
to read the entire motion.
Cookies & Sweets Owner James Davis says he hated the
idea of seeing thousands of Hostess employees lose their jobs and thinks buying
the business could help him send his products around the globe.
Davis, however, admits he has previously run into some
financial troubles with the state of Arkansas. The Secretary of State's website
lists Cookies & Sweets Bakeries corporation status as "revoked" because its franchise taxes have not been paid, but Davis says it's just a
misunderstanding he's working to clear up.
Those issues aren't slowing him down. He describes himself
as a "visionary," likening himself to Sam Walton and Walt Disney.
Davis was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan, but came to
Arkansas on a band scholarship to the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff. The
Cookies & Sweets bakery began in Pine Bluff but that location is now
closed.
As for how to fund the purchase of Hostess, Davis says he
has several plans. He is considering an initial public officering on the stock
market or acquiring bonds.
If the purchase is completed, Davis says he plans to build a
new bakery in Arkansas. Both Pine Bluff and Little Rock are potential
locations, but he said, "Any good spot would
work."
The first step, however, is to secure Hostess. Davis says
he's already spoken to a former Hostess employee from Ohio about the
possibility of going back to work and told her "to be hopeful."
