Shop Around: Cromer's to celebrate 75 years in peanut sales

Penny candy, boiled peanuts and flavored popcorn.

In Columbia, it can only mean one thing: Cromer's P-Nuts.

The iconic Columbia brand that - tongue-in-cheek - is "guaranteed worst in town" celebrates its 75th anniversary this year, with a few changes in store.

Cromer's, which started out as a stand at a downtown open-air market and spent decades in a storefront on Assembly Street, has settled into a new building at 1700 Huger St. in recent years.

"It's been a good location so far," said spokeswoman Debbie Moise. She said it is more visible than the previous location in a warehouse district near Williams-Brice Stadium.

The owners recently put up the circa-1950s peanut sign most Columbians would recognize from the store's longtime Assembly Street location. After a fire there in 1997, Cromer's moved twice and changed ownership within the family.

The peanut sign had been in storage for more than a decade, until the owners decided to have it restored.

Now that the store is settled in a permanent spot, "we knew it was the right time to fix it up," Carolette Cromer Turner, owner of the store and granddaughter of founder Julian Cromer, said in a statement.

The owners also recently brought back the old-fashioned candy barrels, with such delightful favorites as Chick-O-Stick and Bit-O-Honey.

That is part of the company's plan to move away from novelty items and toward selling more food products, Moise said.

"More flavored popcorns, more candies, an assortment of different foods," she said.

The result of the changes is a blend of new ideas with a nod to the store's rich history, Turner said.

The story goes like this:

A farmer, Julian Cromer opened his vegetable and peanut stand in 1935 at the downtown market. Within a couple of years, a competitor had popped up nearby, declaring his own peanuts best in town and badmouthing Cromer's peanuts to anyone who would listen.

An angry Cromer fashioned a cardboard sign that read, "Guaranteed Worst in Town." The label stuck and has been Cromer's calling card ever since.

Over the years, Cromer's has expanded to sell party supplies and equipment, holiday and gift items and promotional products.

As the store celebrates its 75th anniversary, it will open its warehouse - which is rarely open to the public - for two magic shows.

On Jan. 30, at 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m., magician John Tudor will perform new and old magic tricks, some of which were invented by second-generation owner James Cromer.

"It's the kickoff for a year of festivities for the company," Moise said.

Tickets to the shows are $5 and include free popcorn.

Proceeds will benefit Columbia's Ronald McDonald House, which helps provide temporary lodging for families of sick children while they are in the hospital.

The store also is giving customers a 25 percent discount on all packaged food items through the end of the month.

New vet opens

A new animal clinic opened recently in Forest Acres.

Tracy Wales and Nori Warren opened Four Paws Animal Clinic at 23 Forest Lake Place, offering veterinary services for dogs and cats.

The 2,500-square-foot clinic has a staff of six in addition to the doctors, four exam rooms, a surgery room, lab, pharmacy, treatment room and kennel. It also has a digital X-ray machine and a paperless computer system for patient records.

Wales said she had thought about opening her own clinic for many years, "but never really wanted to take the plunge."

Despite an ongoing recession, now "seemed like the right time," she said. Both women worked at Shandon-Wood Animal Clinic until 2008.

Wales and her partner were able to get a good deal on a piece of property, a specialty loan through Bank of America geared for opening new veterinary clinics and "first dibs" on a large pool of people looking for jobs, she said.

"It worked in our benefit for sure," she said.

Discounts are offered for members of the military, senior citizens and multiple-pet clients.

Info: fourpawsanimalclinic.com

This story was originally published January 15, 2010 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Shop Around: Cromer's to celebrate 75 years in peanut sales."