Byron Smyrniotis never planned to get into the full-time nut business. A mechanical engineer by trade, he was simply looking for a side project when a friend told him about an aunt looking to sell her late husband’s business, Mound City Shelled Nut Company. Intrigued, he went over to its Delmar Loop storefront to have a look.

“It was empty – all the shelves, the windows, nothing. There was only one bag of peanuts in the whole store,” recalls Smyrniotis. “I didn’t know anything about nuts, but I put a second deed of trust on my house and bought the business, thinking I’d sell it in a few years.”

Fifty years later, Smyrniotis, 81, still owns the business but is ready to find the next entrepreneur to take it over.

“I’m particular about who we sell it to. I have to be because I want somebody to take this over that will continue with the Mount City tradition,” said Smyrniotis. “We pride ourselves in providing the Jewish community with kosher products year-round and kosher products during Passover. So, we’ve done that for 50 years and I’d like to see that continue.”

For now, Mound City remains open, but with new operating hours, Monday – Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

“I don’t want to close the business. It wouldn’t be fair to the community and it wouldn’t be fair to the next buyer. You don’t want to buy a business that’s closed, and I’d like to have a smooth transition going from my ownership to the new buyer,” said Smyrniotis, with clear confidence in his voice.

Smyrniotis says any prospective owner should know that the “nut business” is lucky because society is increasingly seeking nutritional items such as nuts.

“I can safely say that our marketing is done by the nutritionist and the doctors and everyone else who is recommending eating healthy foods, including nuts. So that’s very, very convenient for us, for sure,” said Smyrniotis.

Listening to Smyrniotis talk about his life’s work, you get the feeling Mound City is not so much a business, but a way of life. That, coupled with the fact that he’s able to work alongside his wife every day has kept him going – even if it’s not always all sunshine and rainbows.

“This business has been very good to us. We’ve led a good life because of this business,” said Smyrniotis. “So, I mean, whoever buys it can make a good living out of it.”