WHAT YOU NEED NOW - CONTENT UPDATED THROUGH THE DAY
July 31, 2005
ARCADE FEATURED BUSINESS: The Peanut Shoppe
Story by Neal Stidham
Interview by Eve Marcum-Atkinson
Huntington, WV (HNN) – Owners Doug and Donna Myers of the Peanut
Shoppe are certainly proud of their historic place in Huntington. When the
Huntington Arcade opened in 1924, the Peanut Shoppe was one of the first stores
occupied. From its beginnings as a restaurant where local women
gathered to have afternoon tea, now the Peanut Shoppe is a cozy stop-in for
snackers downtown.
Question: "So Planters operated this businesss when it first opened?"
Answer: "Shortly after [it opened as a restaurant], it became the
Peanut Shoppe, and what Planters did - Peanut Shoppes were all over the United
States.... This isn't the only one: there's one in Charleston on
Capitol Street. [There's also] one, a lady owns one in Baltimore. What they
used to do [is] buy all the nuts from Planters. Well, we don't buy anymore from
Planters, because everything that Planters has is in cans or packages
and stuff. So we buy the raw peanuts... I still cook them myself. And we
don't cook and [store] them in the back; we just put the fresh ones out and
keep them fresh that way."
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Q: "Do you make your own candies too?"
A: "No, we buy [most of] the candies. Some of the "old-timey" candies...there are different companies out there that make them and sell them in bulk. So all the chocolate-covered candies, we buy. But all the peanuts and other nuts and seeds, we cook those, and the mixes, we make those all fresh. There used to be a mix called the California Mix, [but] we don't carry that anymore, we mix our own mix and call it the Huntington Mix."
Q: "How long have you owned the Peanut Shoppe?"
A: "We bought it five years ago, my wife and I.... My oldest son, Nathan, worked here while he was in high school. When it came up for sale, the [previous owners] were getting ready to close it and go out of business, so he said, 'Hey, we can make it work.' He had just started at Marshall, majoring in marketing, so my wife and I, Nathan, and my younger son, Stetson, came down and cleaned the whole place up. [Nathan] helped us do the inventory, get everything straightened up, because he had worked here and knew what he was doing. He helped me out, gave me direction on stuff we had going on. Then he came up with some marketing ideas, because you just can't rely [only] on your walk-in crowd."
Q: "What are your hours?"
A: "With the kids down [at Marshall] and down here in the evenings when they're going out... our hours are Monday through Thursday from 11am to 5pm, but then on Friday and Saturday nights, we stay open to 7:30pm."
Q: "Who usually works here?"
A: "We have all Marshall students that work for us. [We pay them] just a little bit above minimum wage, but they're allowed to study and do homework here, and we have a laptop and printer for them to use. I don't care, as long as they keep the place clean, wait on the customers, and keep stuff stocked. And they're really good employees."
Q: "What sort of special products do you offer?"
A: "We have Huntington High buckets, we put anything in them, any combination that they want. And some of the local corporations, besides just buying tins at Christmas time and stuff, they have us do the corporate stuff for them. We're doing that now, with corporate tins and buckets. First Century Bank's been great, and ClearChannel... they've done fantastic. We also do gifts for King's Daughters Hospital and Fifth/Third Bank, which is right next door. Their People come over here a lot."
Q: "Any other ways to get your products?"
A: "FoodFair - we package our stuff now. FoodFair has been putting it in their store, and they also buy some of the tins and put them in their store."
The Peanut Shoppe, owned by Doug and Donna Myers, is in the front of the Huntington Arcade at 941 4th Avenue. Their phone number is (304) 522-4621.
