Henrico Hostess outlet closing

RICHMOND, VA (WWBT) - The Hostess Store in Henrico has been busy all night, and the phone won't stop ringing with customers trying to find Twinkies.

The iconic foods have become hot ticket items, after an announcement that Hostess plans to close all of its stores.

Standing at the register, Marie Shaffner is all smiles for her customers, no different than the 24 other years she's worked here day after day.

But this day is different. The store is closing and she found out she's losing her job just hours ago.

"Very, very depressed," said Marie Shaffner who found out at work. "Word of mouth from customers, cause they saw the news."

It hits hard for this family too. Cathy Crowder's mother worked here for years.

"Frozen, baked, cooked, refrigerated, stale," said Crowder. "We lived off of those things. My mom worked here. We lived off of Hostess."

Mary Woodley came as soon as she heard the news: "Mostly I wanted some hostess cupcakes and some twinkies because those are my favorites."

"You just don't eliminate something that's part of our tradition!" sighed customer Gail Bertuno.

Shaffner said her last day will be hard, "I really liked it here. I liked people. I liked the people."

And now Marie needs to figure out what she'll do next. After 24 years of working in this store, it's really over.

And starting Saturday, everything at the Hostess Outlet will be 50% off until all of the food is gone.