“Step back….touch your shoulder to the mirror… twist 45 degrees.”

Those are the instructions the owner of the venerable Peanut Shoppe gives to anyone wanting to snap the best interior photo of the long, narrow space.

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Rida AbuZaineh prescribes an angle that allows cameras and cell phones alike to capture the entire, pencil-thin shop.

The space is 8 by 62 feet. The width comprises three parallel areas: 2.5 feet behind the counter; 2 feet for the counter; and 3.5 feet for customers. There’s another 100 x 8 feet of storage in back.

Any decent images really should include the antique Mr. Peanut figure that straddles the even older roaster as well as the long glass shelves displaying the nuts and candies.

The 63-year-old AbuZaineh has repeated those photography instructions over the years to countless customers, tourists and lovers of popular culture. He even climbs atop the counter to illustrate the high angle he takes when customers ask him to snap their picture in this setting so evocative of a different era.

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The Peanut Shoppe’s space – and its meaty aroma of roasting nuts – inspires visitors to record a retail scene that seems as though it has been preserved for 70 years. And it has. The shop has operated at 24 S. Main since 1949.

And 2021 could be the last year if business doesn’t pick up, although AbuZaineh is not giving up.

“No! Heck no. I’m a fighter,” he says.

AbuZaineh’s lease ends Dec. 31, after which the building’s new owner plans an overdue renovation of the 111-year-old structure lining Main’s pedestrian mall.

The work means the shop owner must find a place to move, or close. And moving involves complications.

AbuZaineh must not only find the kind of building where venting his roaster is relatively inexpensive, but where lots of pedestrians walk by.

The Peanut Shoppe’s existing space will be uninhabitable for the six to eight months of construction, landlord Praveen Reddy said, adding he’d welcome the shop to reopen in the space after the work is done.

“We want to get it renovated and into better shape,” Reddy said. The work also will repair and strengthen parts of the building affected by a fire several years ago.

The renovation also will restore the building’s “older look” that had been covered by a previous renovation that wasn’t true to the building’s original design, he said.

“We want to bring that old Downtown Memphis look back, and with a modernized interior,” Reddy said. The building includes a second, vacant shopfront next to The Peanut Shoppe. That’s where Court House Deli operated until it permanently closed.

The top two floors of the 12,000-square-foot, three-story building are uninhabitable. The renovation designed by PKM Architects will turn that space into residences while keeping the ground-floor area commercial.

On one hand, the shopfront renovation is exactly the kind of investment that the Downtown Memphis Commission promotes. The agency even offers an Exterior Renovation Grant for which Reddy will likely apply.

On the other hand, the possible loss of a fun, colorful and interesting store like The Peanut Shoppe would be a blow to the energy along Downtown’s sidewalks. The commission has provided financial support to AbuZaineh’s business, too.

This Peanut Shoppe was one of three corporate stores opened by Planters generations ago. The others were at 134 S. Main next to where the Strand Theatre once stood and at 4305 Summer Avenue. The company eventually sold them off.

AbuZaineh bought the shop at 24 S. Main in 1993, becoming its fifth owner. It’s now the only one still operating in Memphis and, he says, one of just six remaining in the U.S.

One of the many framed photos on the walls of his Peanut Shoppe is a decades-old image of the front sidewalk, thick with pedestrians. Business had already thinned over the years when the pandemic hit nearly a year ago.

“2020 was a sad year for everybody,” AbuZaineh says. “Bad year. Disastrous year in every aspect.”

But he did not even temporarily close. He didn’t want rumors to start that The Peanut Shoppe was permanently closing. His business was hurt when the Peanut Shoppe on Summer closed at the end of 2017. Some customers mistakenly thought his store closed, too.

As it is, AbuZaineh estimates business has dropped 65 percent. He spent savings to keep the shop going in 2020.

Still, AbuZaineh holds out the hope that revenues will increase enough this year to help him pay for a move.

He rules out leaving Downtown. Customers for peanuts don’t drive by, they walk by.

The old roaster and Mr. Peanut are not the only antiques at 24 S. Main. In this car-centric city, just the notion of a business depending on pedestrian customers is old-fashioned.

AbuZaineh acknowledges his decision to persevere may not seem logical.

“My attachment to this business is here,” he says while pounding the spot on his chest above his heart.

“This is my baby. This was nothing when we took over 28 years ago. We saw business growing and going down. We’ve been on the Food Network, on the cooking channel, on PBS in a couple of documentaries. Been on all the TV stations and magazines.”

If business improves, the shop might make enough money to pay for a move. He’s looking for a place Downtown where plenty of potential customers walk by. A big expense could involve the cost of installing a vent for the roaster. 

The Peanut Shoppe was one of many small, Downtown businesses that received emergency, pandemic-related financial help from the Downtown Memphis Commission last year. The shop got a forgivable loan of $2,400 in April.

The commission’s staff report crystallizes what The Peanut Shop has meant to Downtown for generations:

“The Peanut Shoppe has been a unique Downtown retail destination for many years,” the report states. “The cozy shop is much-loved by locals and tourist alike.”