Cromer’s Celebrates 80th Birthday

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Columbia, S.C. (WOLO) — This weekend, Cromer’s is celebrating it’s 80th birthday. “We have a saying when you walk into Cromer’s and you have a tough day you always walk out with a smile,” said General Manager Agata Chydzinski. For the past 80 years, Cromer‘s Peanuts has been making it’s customers smile by providing them with the ‘Guaranteed Worst in Town‘ peanuts, popcorn, and other goods. “It’s the best popcorn and peanuts around here in South Carolina,” said customer Sonja Cummings. Cromer’s began it‘s journey in 1935 when it started out in the downtown market and later opened it‘s first store on Assembly Street. Now 8 decades later, the well-known locally owned shop is still thriving and gearing up to celebrate it‘s 80th birthday. “It’s fantastic, it’s a testament to our resilience it’s a testament to the fact that when you really want to make it happen, you can,” said Chydzinski. However, making it happen didn’t come without it‘s hardships. In the early 90’s, Cromer’s main building was destroyed by a fire and over the years they‘ve had to overcome several economic challenges. “We‘ve had to re-adjust our offering and get back to our core products and that has helped us survive through the economy through the lack of customers coming through the door,” explained Chydzinski. Through the good and the bad, Cromer’s has remained a Columbia staple, a tradition they hope to continue for another 80 years to come. “We started here and I don‘t think we‘ll ever finish,“ said Chydzinski. Cromer’s will hold it’s 80th Birthday Celebration Saturday, August 29th from 10-1pm.