Mother's/Archway Cookies shuts it's doors..

The plug was officially pulled when Mother's Cake & Cookie Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday. Besides the Circus Animal Cookies, the company is known for its Taffy Sandwich Cookies, English Tea Sandwich Cookies, and Iced Oatmeal Raisin cookies that will no longer be made.

I could finish off a bag of those wonderful, iced animal cookies !
Another childhood memory gone..........Sad Day

I'll bet someone will buy them and they will be back. Usually CH 11 is not the end of a company. They could restructure and bounce back. Granted, in today's fnancial mess it could be harder.

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1211866,CST-FIN-cookie09.article

"In its bankruptcy filing, Archway & Mother's Cookie Co. listed assets in excess of $50 million and liabilities of more than $500 million."

The real sad thing is that nobody will go to jail for this or any of the other instances of greed.

I heard they stopped production.... doesn't look good.

No more Oatmeal-Date cookies!

OMG, no more molasses cookies? I mean, I don't need them, but I like them.

This is a sad day for lovers of good cookies!!!!

I know some one trying to get their shelf space in some local markets.

Probably the best coverage of this shutdown has been done by the Times Gazette newspaper of Ashland, Ohio, the location of the US Archway cookie plant:
http://www.times-gazette.com
http://www.times-gazette.com/news/popular
Oddly, the Archway plant in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada is not shut down.

No wonder I haven't been able to find Archway cookies! I'd been looking for the oatmeal cookies at several grocery stores the past few days. (I have happy memories of my DD chewing on the soft cookies when she was only 18 months old.) I feel old, and sad.

Dearfolk,
Because I'm hypoglycaemic, I cannot eat "store-bought" cookies, but even I feel saddened... Archway were the best. Guess those of us who want them will just have to start making guerilla runs to Canada, eh?, to stock up.
I bet a whole bunch of Americans doing such would bumfuddle Canadian customs something fierce, like someone I know who brought back 2 well used copies of every Bobby Curtola 45 record he could get his hands on (about 28 in all)... customs must have wondered if he wasn't just a wee bit bughouse, as they say in Ontario....
UnMonsterly, Ort. Carlton, Half-Baked in Athens, Georgia.

At the grocery store this evening, there were none left..I was devastated. ( I know there are more important things in life!) Maybe I will hit Meijer's or Sams and Costco tomorrow. Just wanted a few last bags.......But I did find a website that's pretty interesting.........Check it out
http://www.foodlocker.com/moncirancook.html

quote:

Originally posted by joerogo

http://www.suntimes.com/business/1211866,CST-FIN-cookie09.article

"In its bankruptcy filing, Archway & Mother's Cookie Co. listed assets in excess of $50 million and liabilities of more than $500 million."

The real sad thing is that nobody will go to jail for this or any of the other instances of greed.

Joe,
You can't make that assumption. just because a company lists more liabilities than assets doesn't mean there was any wrongdoing. I was President of a company that filed CH 11. We restructured and came out of it and no one profited from it except the Bankruptcy Attorneys!!!!!

If you really want the convoluted story of Archway, take a look at the total history of the company on this website: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/Archway-Cookies-Inc-Company-History.html

Here are some old tv commercials............
http://www.knx1070.com/Mothers-Cookies--Out-of-Business/3115611

I'm sorry, those cookies should not have been sold for the last 2 decades. The last one I ate, tasted like it was made in the 1980's.

I know its not much consolation for die hard Archway Fans but if you have a Wegmans in your area try their store brand oatmeal cookies--almost identical!

I am going to miss those oatmeal raisin cookies and big glass of milk

Archway is the only store brand cookies that we buy on any regular basis and I am going to miss them. I cleared a shelf in my freezer and went to the supermarket and stocked up for what may be our last tastes of Archway. I bought the oatmeal, oatmeal raisin. frosted lemons, ginger snaps, molasses and the frosted animal cookies. I noticed that the date to "use by" on the frosted animal cookies is not until Jan 09 so will go back to the store and buy the rest of them.

When I make homemade chocolate cupcakes for the chuch's bake sales, I always frost the cupcakes in white frosting and stick a frosted animal cookie on top. They sell for fifty cents each and are the very first things to sell out!

quote:

Originally posted by russ2304

I know its not much consolation for die hard Archway Fans but if you have a Wegmans in your area try their store brand oatmeal cookies--almost identical!

They too may disappear if they were contract baked by Archway.

My store shelves are still fully stocked .. I checked this evening 5 pm

Well, off to the store for me!

This is sad news! A woman I visit at a local nursing home always requests Archway Oatmeal Cookies, so I guess I'll be looking for a similar oatmeal cookie to bring to her (I'll keep the Wegman's cookies in mind).

My Mom often bought Archways when we were growing up, especially the Chocolate Chip Icebox and Soft Drop cookies, Ruth's Oatmeal, Date-Filled Oatmeal (my favorite), Iced Oatmeal, and Molasses. I guess I'll see if they're still around at local stores and stock up for my parents and me.

I never want to see anyone go out of business. but, I never cared for their cookies. The only packaged cookies I like are Mal-O Mars, Peanutters and Sam's Club Chocolate Chip with Pecans that they sell at Walmart. They are really good..Made with butter.

I'm not a cookie eater per se but I did eat 2 kinds. Cameos blue package and Archway Iced Oatmeal. Sob sob. I like 'em extra sweet.

I did an appraisal of the Mother's factory in Oakland years ago when someone bought them out. Can't remember if it was Archway or a pervious owner. But I got to eat all the cookies I wanted hot off of the lines.

Iced Molasses are my favorite Archer's cookies. I made it to the local super market and bought all the Iced Molasses they had, adn 2 of everything else. I have lots of freezer space.

Employees of Archway's management company caught with their hands in the cookie jar:
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008810140314

The Battle Creek Enquirer has also run stories about Archway since company headquarters were in Battle Creek.

However, last Thursday the Archway plant in Kitchener, Ontario resumed cookie production, per the Waterloo Record:
http://news.therecord.com/article/430729

This discussion on Topix, right now at 264 comments, had people from all over the country discussing the collaspe of Archway. A lot of inside information, including the fact that Archway and Mother's used co-packers, and some of their lenders were Wachovia and Washington Mutual (WaMu). Also, many allegations of cooking the books. Other allegations include Kellogg's Keebler Cookies having an interest in Archway. Note all this information is "As-Is, Where Is":
http://www.topix.com/forum/city/delton-mi/T14VL3OQMR4H0B6F0

Wow, this is the first I've heard about it.I think I've seen them at H.E.B. Grocery Stores here.Guess I'll have to buy some
next time I buy cat food while they still have them, though it is quite possible someone will buy the company.

Are they the company that makes the cashew nougat cookies you only see right before Christmas? If so, it’s going to be a less merry one this year.

I always looked at Archway cookies as the last resort of the last resort. As in, I had to buy cookies because I didn't have time to make them, and every other kind was sold out. I agree with firecommander3565...they taste like they were made 20 years ago, and left out to get as hard as possible in the mean time.

However, I am saddened by still more loss of American jobs.

I agree, Archway/Mothers were not the best cookies...Of course Oreos took the top spot for grocery store cookies. But those Holiday Nougat and Animal Circus Cookies always seemed to have a place in my home growing up and it's a shame that they are gone along with all the jobs that made it happen...

For those looking to make a "last buy" I found several varieties of Archway cookies in a Big Lots today. A source most people wouild not think of checking out.

Both Archway and Mother's brands are to be resurrected by new owners after a sale through bankruptcy proceedings.
Lance, Inc. bought Archway:
http://www.mansfieldnewsjournal.com/article/20081204/NEWS01/81203035
Kelloggs bought Mother's:
http://www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20081205/BUSINESS/812050312/1002/NEWS01

This is great news!!   Thanks David for posting this.

I saw Archway in the stores here in TX over the holidays, but not my favorite nougat ones.

Over the weekend, I have found short dated Archway and Mother's cookies in NYC Metro area Dollar Tree strores. A nearby supermarket was selling the same one flavor left for $3.49 for a one pound package.

They are back in stores!!!!!!!

I like the date filled oatmeal, some of the holiday cookies and the oatmeal ones.  My father was allergic to chocolate, so he always had a few Archway cookies around to appease his sweet tooth. He liked them since they were tasty, soft. and did not contain chocolate or coccoa   I look somewhat like my father, and have a sweet tooth like him and also love Archway cookies. 

Picked up a bag of iced oatmeal this morning. They're a bit different than before, but not in an unpleasant way.

I'm adding a footnote to this three year old thread because The New York Times published a story on May 31st, 2009 which I missed at the time. It answers the question why Mother's/Archway Cookies suddenly closed their doors, and why aging cookies were dumped into just about every surplus channel late in 2008.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/31/business/31archway.html?_r=1&ref=business
 
As the Times article exposes, the Mother's/Archway books were cooked as well. Fascinating read. I could not find any subsequent news coverage concerning the various lawsuits, however.
ADDENDUM: Please note that, as stated above and in another thread, Archway and Mother's cookies were back in stores about May 2009 because existing snack food and cookie producers bought the product lines in bankruptcy court. They remain in production.

David_NYC

As the Times article exposes, the Mother's/Archway books were cooked as well. Fascinating read. I could not find any subsequent news coverage concerning the various lawsuits, however.

You mean they were making Dough while Cooking the Books???
Well, if that ain't the icing on the cake!

I think i saw some for sale still at the H.E.B. Grocerystore here in Schertz.I need to get a couple of things, so maybe I'll look. H.E.B. has their own brand of cookies,but I don't have any idea who makes them.
That's a same, as we sometimes would buy Archway cookies in the past,including the frosted animal cookies.

Holly, for continuity's sake, I should have restated that the cookies are back in stores since about May, 2009. See this thread:
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/Mother39s-Cookies-are-back-m512575.aspx
Lance, Inc picked up the Archway line in bankruptcy court. Kelloggs picked up Mother's Cookies, also in bankruptcy court. Sorry for my editorial lapse.

David_NYC


Dolly, for continuity's sake, I should have restated that the cookies are back in stores since about May, 2009. See this thread:
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/Mother39s-Cookies-are-back-m512575.aspx
Lance, Inc picked up the Archway line in bankruptcy court. Kelloggs picked up Mother's Cookies, also in bankruptcy court. Sorry for my editorial lapse.
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 Was going to say, they are all over the place in Indiana. Was a coupon in Sundays paper.

Dupe