'As old-school as we can': Peanut Shoppe celebrates 75 years in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä

Not much has changed, co-owner Kandi Kimble said.

New employees are still taught how to do the original “peanut fold� on all the bags, so that the nuts won't fall out. The red rotary-dial phone on the wall replaced a pay phone about two years ago. And, of course, all the nuts are still cooked the same way they were in 1950.

"The only thing, honestly, that we've really changed is the internet that we put in for the credit card machine,� Kimble said. “Everything else is pretty much the same. We keep everything as old-school as we can.�

Kimble and her husband, Adam, Moore’s grandson, are the third generation of Peanut Shoppe owners.

Moore family business

Moore, a Monongalia County native, trained with Planters in Wilmington, Delaware, and first worked in a shop in Trenton, New Jersey. He wanted to open a shop in his home state, and Planters gave him the choice between ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä and Huntington.

Moore managed the shop for Planters for 10 years before purchasing it. He became a ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä police officer, and his wife, Tillie, took over management of the shop most of the time.

The store has been passed down to their daughter, Debra, and, since 2012, to Kandi and Adam Kimble.

'A fun job'

Mary Woods has worked at the Peanut Shoppe for about six years, since she retired from a career in insurance. She attends church with the Kimbles, who offered her a part-time job.

“It really is a fun job, because people get happy when they come in and get candy and nuts,� Woods said. “I’m not stressed at the end of the day. You go home and you smell like peanuts, popcorn and everything.�

Woods and her sister used to come downtown on the bus, which dropped them right in front of the Peanut Shoppe. They each had $3 in their pocket that would get them a snack at the store, a meal and some “junk� at a local 10-cent store.

Woods said nothing has changed since 2019, even the location of the nuts and sweets behind the counter.

“If it’s not broke, don’t fix it,� she said.

Regulars

Woods and her co-worker Alyssa Brawley, a new hire, can look out the window and see regular customers coming down Quarrier Street.

“Before they walk in, we’re already getting their stuff ready, and they’re like ‘You already know,’� Brawley said.

For example, for about 15 years, Rob Berthold has been coming every day to get $2 worth of a snack, usually cashews. Every year, the cashiers give him a gift certificate for Christmas, he said.

“You can’t beat it,� he said.

Other regulars include students at ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä Catholic High School. Woods and Brawley try to work quickly when they come in, to get the students back to school on time. On Thursday, senior Katherine Fox, purchased her usual order of sea salt chocolate caramels.

“They provide a lot of cheap lunch options for the students, compared to other places around ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä,â€� she said.

ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä memories

Christina Vickers works just a few storefronts down from the Peanut Shoppe. She came to the store as a little girl in the 1970s and said she remembers the smell. Now, she comes twice a week to get caramel corn or chocolate-covered fruit.

" I remember just being fascinated by all the choices,� she said.

The Peanut Shoppe has stuck to Capitol Street through population decline, a mall opening that led to the closure of many downtown retailers and, of course, a global pandemic.

Woods said it’s the oldest business in ÂÒÂ×ÄÚÉä that has stayed in the same location.

Kandi Kimble said the store is not as busy as it was in the 1960s and 1970s, when Kanawha County had about 79,000 more residents. But regular customers and Christmas orders help keep the store going.

She said she hears a story every day from customers who, as children, used to take the bus downtown to go to the library and the Peanut Shoppe.

“We never get tired of hearing it because it’s people’s memories,� she said. “It’s wonderful to be able to still ... be there because, if it’s not for your customers, then who’s it for?�

100 years?

She and Adam Kimble are planning to pass the store down to one of their children, and any rumors of the store closing are false.

“That’s never even been a discussion,� she said.

But really, she said, it’s up to the local peanut lovers.

“We are hoping to keep it going as long as we can. Honestly, it's really more so up to the customers," she said. "We always try to make customers the priority."