Hostess is closed.

A stalwart in the snack foods industry, the more than 100-year-old, snack food and baked goods maker has shut down its 33 factories and laid off its 18,500 workers. Its roughly 500 bakery outlet stores remained open to sell off products, but those, too, will soon be shuttered.

It’s an unfortunate end to the Hostess Brands, Inc. line of products ”“ for now ”“ and will have a major impact here in Biddeford, where about 300 people have lost their jobs.

We understand the frustration of Hostess’ workers. While they continued to take pay and benefit cuts, the company’s leaders were not streamlining and planning for the future, which is why it was in and out of bankruptcy. It was also inexcusable for Hostess to take money out of workers’ checks for their pensions and not put that money into the actual pension fund.

All around, this is a bad situation for the workers and management, as well as the cities and towns that were home to Hostess’ bakeries and stores.

Biddeford has been hard-hit by job losses. Several major employers have closed in the last decade, including the recent departure of Best Buy and Lowe’s at Biddeford Crossing and the closure of WestPoint Home before that ”“ not to mention other plant closures in nearby York County towns.

Ideally, someone will come in and purchase the Biddeford bakery ”“ or Hostess’ line of brands ”“ and get the facilities up and running again soon, as many of those on the picket lines hoped last week.

In Wells, where RR Donnelley announced its departure from an industrial park there, a candle company is now operating, taking advantage of the building’s space and updated technology, while providing nearly 100 jobs to Maine people. And in Waterboro, Howe and Howe Technologies moved into the space formerly occupied by Architectural Skylight company on Route 202.

If the same could happen for the Biddeford bakery, a workforce of trained and ready people could get back to work. Workers said the bakery is fairly new and modern, and many of them told reporters they would like to see another company come in and take over the site.

While no plans have been made public as of yet to do so, there’s still time. The liquidation was announced just last week, and Hostess is still in the midst of its bankruptcy proceedings.

Now is the perfect time for an entrepreneur or company to scoop up Hostess iconic brands and get the Twinkies, Ho Hos and Wonder Bread back on store shelves.

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Today’s editorial was written by City Editor Robyn Burnham on behalf of the Journal Tribune Editorial Board. Questions? Comments? Contact Managing Editor Kristen Schulze Muszynski by calling 282-1535, Ext. 322, or via email at kristenm@journaltribune.com.