The Peanut Shoppe

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At 941 4th. Ave. in the Huntington Arcade, the Peanut Shoppe was ideally located for movie fans
who would stop in on their way to or from the Theater.  In 2006, when the Keith-Albee Stopped
showing movies. the shop lost many of its best customers.

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This is the 207th in a series of articles recalling vanished Huntington scenes.

HUNTINGTON — Originally opened as a franchise location by the Planters Peanut Co. in 1924,
the Peanut Shoppe was a downtown Huntington institution for more than 80 years. Located
 in the Huntington Arcade at 941 4th Avenue, the shop was ideally located for
movie fans who liked to stop in on their way to or from the theater.

When Planters decided to exit the retail business, the shop became locally owned
and over the years was owned and operated by a series of families.

Doug and Donna Myers bought the shop in 2000 and ran it for nine years.
They continued the traditional dry-roasting of peanuts and added
a number of new offerings, such as party trays and gift
tins with the logos of area sports teams.

In 2006, when the nearby Keith-Albee Theater stopped showing movies, the Peanut Shoppe
lost many of its best customers. In 2008, the Myers family sold the shop so they could
 concentrate on a new business venture, the Pitta Pit restaurant. The new
owner was unable to make a go of the shop, which soon closed.

In 2014, Chef Ralph Hagy opened a deli, the Mulberry Street Meatball Co.,
 in the former peanut store's long-vacant space. Hagy operates La Famiglia,
a Southern Italian restaurant located in a vintage 1890s house at 1327
6th Ave. He said he originally intended La Famiglia to be a deli,
 but his customers demanded he turn it into a full-service
 restaurant. Opening the 4th Avenue deli reflected
 his original thinking, he said.

The deli has since closed, and the former peanut shop is once again vacant.

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Note:  This Article and picture appeared in the Herald-Dispatch Newspaper on Nov. 30, 2017

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