Center City snack shop Nuts To You tries TikTok Shop as it pivots toward its next 50 years

Father and son, Howard and Justin Bernstein, inside a Nuts To You store at 16th and Market Streets in Center City Philadelphia. The family-owned and operated business sells nuts, popcorn, candy, chocolate, and dried fruits. Read more Erin Blewett / For The Inquirer by Olivia Prusky Published June 28, 2026, 5:01 a.m. ET Listen to article • 0:00 min On 20th Street between Market and Chestnut, much has changed in the past 50 years. One tenant that hasn’t: Nuts To You. The snack shop, wrapped in yellow wallpaper speckled with walnuts, remains packed with shelves of nuts, candy, and dried fruit galore. Nuts To You, a snack haven owned by the same family for three generations, is celebrating 50 years in Center City . Since its first location opened in 1976, Nuts To You has survived the rise of the internet, and the emptying of the business district in a post-pandemic Philadelphia, building decades-long customer relationships on the way. Pulling off such a feat is “rare, and it’s really hard,” according to Erika Tapp Duran, director of Temple University ’s Small Business Development Center. Nuts To You freshly roasts their nut products at a warehouse in Frankford. Over the years they have broadened their inventory to include freshly popped popcorn (also made in-house), as well as chocolates, candy, dried fruit, and almost anything else one could find in a kitchen pantry. They sell those products out of three city storefronts: on 20th Street near Rittenhouse Square, 16th and Market Streets on the ground floor of Centre Square; and Seventh and Walnut Streets in Washington Square West. But the brick-and-mortar business has changed. In 2018, Nuts To You had six physical stores, and its leaders were considering expanding into Washington, D.C. “We used to have lines during lunch rush,” said Justin Bernstein, who co-owns the business with his father, Howard Bernstein. “That just doesn’t exist anymore.” The location beneath Centre Square has a front-row seat to the evolution. At the end of 2025, the office building had the highest vacancy rate in Center City. Developers are now planning to convert it into a mixed-use complex with apartments and luxury hotel rooms. With three years left on that lease, Nuts To You is uncertain about the 16th and Market store’s future. But for now, “We’re still here,” said Justin, who has spent most of his life as part of Nuts To You. “We’re still going.” Fewer walk-ins and a digital pivot James Troutman, 77, a regular at the Seventh and Walnut Street location, piled bags of rolled oats, cashews, peanuts, walnuts, and sunflower seeds into his gray backpack as he left the store on a Tuesday morning. He’ll later combine those ingredients into his daily homemade cereal, which he has been making from Nuts To You products for decades. “That’s why I’m so young looking!” Troutman joked. Employees said this location, the company’s most popular, draws an estimated 100 customers a day. But Nuts To You is not immune to the struggles facing brick-and-mortar businesses. In-person sales are down 30% to 40% from pre-pandemic levels, which the owners attribute to less foot traffic as more people have remote or hybrid work arrangements. The entry of big retail competitors into Center City has also changed the business. “Fifty years ago, there was nobody selling this product,” said Howard. “CVS and all those drug stores didn’t have full lines of nuts and candy.” For Nuts To You, the decline in foot traffic has been offset by an increase in online sales. The company launched its website in 2010, but was only making about $100 to $200 a day online before the pandemic. Within two days of COVID-19-related lockdowns taking effect, sales increased to $3,000 a day. Now, 40% of Nuts To You’s sales come from its website, and the company has forayed into selling on TikTok. As of June, only about 1% of their sales come from TikTok Shop, but Justin said that’s already more than expected. In lieu of the nuts and oats that traditional walk-in customers buy, online customers tend to purchase sugar-free products or nostalgic novelties like wax bottles or Sugar Daddies. “Think about all the things that have changed for consumers in the last five or six years, and then multiply that out over 50 years,” said Temple’s Tapp Duran. “You have to be able to pivot.” Howard says that Nuts To You’s popularity has stemmed from its business strategy, which he defines as “largest variety, lowest prices, highest quality.” This may have been true for many years. Though, with larger retailers’ entry into Center City — Justin cited Trader Joe’s in 2003 and Target in 2016 — it has been difficult to beat corporate giants on prices. However, the owners say what they can still ensure is quality — “That’s what our customers expect,” Justin said. They source their walnuts and pistachios from small growers in California, with whom they’ve maintained yearslong connections. “We don’t want to switch to another brand, even though I could save a dollar,” said Howard. “Most customers appreciate that.” In addition to greater competition and a changing retail landscape, Nuts To You has faced challenges common among small businesses in 2026. Within the past few months, they’ve joined the ranks of small businesses who were sued for violating the Americans With Disabilities Act, based on allegations that the Nuts To You website relied on a visual interface that was inaccessible to individuals who are blind or use screen readers. Another lawsuit came out of a Proposition 65 claim — a law that requires products sold in California to warn consumers for potential exposure to dangerous chemicals — leading Nuts To You to adopt a disclaimer on its website. “You think you’re OK, we’re running smooth, we know our expenses, then all of a sudden you get served papers,” said Justin. “And it’s like, what?” Generations of work For years, Basheer Ali, 65, has been traveling from Southwest Philly to the Center City Nuts To You stores for his fresh nuts and candy. Employees there have helped him navigate a diabetic diet, introducing him to sugar-free chocolate pretzels. “The people need these kinds of stores,” Ali said. The company sees very little employee turnover, Justin said. At least half its 19 employees worked at the company for more than a decade. Regina DeLeon, manager of the Washington Square West location, has been with the company for 26 years. When prompted by a customer, she recalled Nuts To You’s founder and first-generation owner, Manny Radbill. Radbill predicted in 1975 that nuts were going to be the next health craze . He wasn’t wrong: In 1992, a study found an association between nut consumption and a lower risk of coronary heart disease, which kicked off decades of research on the health benefits of eating nuts. With the help of Radbill’s daughter, Caryn, and her then-husband Howard, they opened that first store on South 20th Street, which is still in operation today. Justin first entered the family business when he was 2 years old, pushing buttons on the cash register. Howard required him to gain outside experience first, but Justin said, “I always kind of knew this is what I wanted to do.” So, after his college graduation and a brief stint at Boscov’s, about 20 years ago Justin joined Nuts To You and has since become co-owner. As iconic family businesses like Di Bruno Bros. have been acquired, buyers have approached the Bernsteins, but Howard and Justin decided against it. They entertained one offer, but the deal-breaker was a requirement to close all of the physical stores — the owners refused to put their staff out of jobs. Over their 50 years in business, Justin said he is most proud of staying family owned. “We’ll see what happens, what the future holds,” said Justin. “At least another 20 years, call it.” OP Olivia Prusky Email