Twinkies Make Early Return

Twinkies are making an early comeback at Wal-Mart stores, and they won’t be frozen beforehand.

The world’s largest retailer says it is selling the snack cakes at about 1,600 stores starting Friday and that about 3,000 of its 4,000 U.S. stores should have them by Sunday morning, a day before Hostess had said the cakes would start hitting shelves nationwide.

By late next week, stores will also have Hostess Mini Muffins and fried Fruit Pies, said Wal-Mart spokeswoman Veronica Marshall. Coffee Cakes, Ho Hos, Orange CupCakes, Suzy Qs and Zingers will be available by August.

Sno-Balls will arrive in the fall.

The new owners of Hostess have said it will be freezing Twinkies for about 10 percent of its retailers upon request. Marshall said Wal-Mart isn’t one of those.