Mother's Cookies - Bankrupt and Closing

Whoa, Whoa, WHOA. Where am I supposed to get my Circus Animal cookies now? Are you kidding me, one of the oldest and greatest ICONS of cookiedom is gone? What about Taffy's or Frosted Oatmeal cookies? (I actually haven't had either of these in years, just trying to make a point here). Rising prices for raw materials and fuel are blamed for shuttering Mother's Cookies. Raise the price of the goods or services your making or providing. Cut back and only make a few types. Somebody out there has to be able to make the little frosted animal cookies with the colored sprinkles and be able to do it profitably. Why does EVERY business that fails blame outside sources as if they have no control over them? It's such bullshit. These companies buy fuel contracts and if they don't, than they are IDIOTS. Gee, the price of flour has gone up. O.K., so raise the price of the cookies. The 14oz. bag of cookies cost $2.79. Raise it to $2.99. Think anyone would notice? Doubtful. Who else makes frosted sprinkled animal cookies? I'm pretty sure there aren't many out there. And at the stores I shop at, none but Mother's. So, is Keebler or Nabisco/Sunshine going to swoop in and start making them? Did Catterton Partners sell off the recipes? Only time will tell. But I'm sure they'll do whatever they can to squeeze out the last drop of money from the Mother's Cookies brand.

Check out their website. I love this statement: "Throughout our history, we have helped our portfolio companies to rapidly and successfully achieve their business goals and objectives, and to become leaders in their respective industry segments." That was from the Catterton Partners corporate overview. Yeah, great job. Mother's is surely a leader now. C'mon. How do they get people to invest in this equity firm when they ran a 92 year old company into the ground? Now, close your eyes and imagine your local grocery store. Think of the cookie isle. Think of all the Mother's cookies that will no longer be there. Well, here's my take. Those brilliant equity partners were paid WAY too much and Mother's as a BRAND couldn't make the company enough revenue to continue. It's not about taking a pay cut or even letting Mother's operate even-steven. It's about taking too much money out of the kitty and not leaving enough in to run the business. I would love to see this as a case study for business students in colleges around the country. How to completely and utterly fuck up a 92 year old INSTITUTION. If you own a business (Oregenos Pizza Bistro are you listening?) and the suits show up at your door, slam it in their face. Think of the sub prime mortgage meltdown of 2008 and think of those suits as mortgage lenders who are just there to offer you a deal that is just TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE. Don't fall into the trap of selling your soul or your company, even if it's only 49%, to the suits. Go find a Mother's Cookie wrapper and pin it to your wall right now. Don't let this happen to you or your business. There is no reason why Mother's should have failed except for BAD MANAGEMENT. In today's world, where the only people making money are those middle men making the deals, Mother's has just become another example of the money men taking a viable institution and wrecking it. Don't BLAME the price of fuel or the price of flour. Blame Catterton Partners. We need to get back to the banking and finance arenas of years past where a businesses operated within their means and financial institutions loaned their own money or that of their depositors, not money they borrowed to inflate their own asset list. This is truly as sad day for anyone who appreciates MADE IN THE U.S.A.

I raise my glass of milk and toast those at Mothers Cookies. Farewell my friend, you will be missed more than you shall ever know. The void in my stomach that was once filled with the wonderful goodness of Mothers Cookies, shall remain empty from this day forth.