City Peanut Shop: Collaboration and community beat out coronavirus

Story by Courtnie Dawson

No passerby, whether local or tourist, has managed to walk down 8th street on City Peanut’s roasting day without commenting to each other, “What’s that? It smells good.”

The pandemic brought fear to City Peanut loyalists that the treasured shop would be forced into closure, that the inviting smell of roasted sweet and savory nuts would dissipate forever in a gloomy post-pandemic Boise. But Dan Balluff, owner of City Peanut, had created a fail-safe insurance policy to rely on during the difficult times: his relationships within Boise’s business community.

City Peanut Shop opened closely behind the 2008 market crash. The vacant storefronts along the heart of downtown were a melancholic sight, and the shops that remained were struggling against the financial crash. Dan recognized a need for something fresh and intriguing to fill the void, and left his career at HP behind to create something new, yet nostalgic at the same time.

“I wanted to help make my downtown better. I wanted to create something that could become an iconic part of downtown,” Dan says. “Something that, 30 years from now, people remember visiting as a kid, digging up one of our nut tins up in their attic.”

And while its true that there’s nothing quite like City Peanut in the Downtown Boise area, peanut shops didn’t used to be as rare as they seem nowadays. Dan took inspiration from a peanut shop in his hometown, a place preserved in time, almost unchanged in 80 years. Whenever Dan felt discouraged or restless in his career, his father would jokingly tell him to open a peanut shop. After years in the corporate world, the joke became less funny and more realistic, until Dan went all in on the idea.

“Small businesses like us are the face of the community. People who come to visit, they aren’t going home and talking about a chain they visited. They want to talk about the local spots,” Dan says. “Small businesses really define what the community is,” Dan says. “Our small businesses reflect the lifestyle and culture of Boise.” 

Now, maybe dropping a lucrative career for an extremely specialized shop is, well, a little nuts. But City Peanut has become a household name, thanks to local loyalty, tourist intrigue, and - most importantly - a wealth of connections in Boise’s small-business network, thanks to dozens of collaborations with farmers, brewers, restaurants, and more.

“Collaboration is fun to do. It’s more interesting, and our customers enjoy it,” Dan says. “It’s important to build those relationships in the community, it helps all of us.”

Some of City Peanut’s collaborations include Espresso Pecan Peanut Brittle with iOne Bitters, Wild Lands cocktail nut mix with Petite Four, and BBQ nuts with My Family Tradition barbecue sauce. 

It’s not all just nuts in a bag, though. For instance, Meriwether Cider’s Candied Pecan Cider is made City Peanut pecans steeped with vodka and maple syrup. A mutual exchange with My Family Tradition resulted in a thai peanut sauce with Dan’s peanuts.

These collaborations, and the many others City Peanut has participated in over the years, build connections between local businesses, advertise each other’s brand, and create delicious, unique combinations that may not have been considered by one company alone.

“Nobody can do it all on their own. You need to work together to be successful. Collaboration makes a difference,” Dan says. “These collaborations helped me create some of the best products I make, things I never would have thought of doing until someone approached me about it.”

The relationships forged by hours of recipe building and product creation created a safety net when the pandemic hit. As Dan and other business owners realized how much they needed each other, they worked harder to promote each other and the work they’ve done together. While City Peanut’s retail sales slowed down, wholesale orders increased as other businesses pushed City Peanut to the front of the menus and display cases.

“In these negative times, people like to see people working together. And together, we expand the possibilities,” Dan says. “It leads to better products, plus it’s just fun.”