Hammons Black Walnut Emporium draws visitors

But those same tornadoes pushed Stockton-based Hammons Products Co.’s long-term plans to the forefront, according to President Brian Hammons.

Hammons Products Co. lost eight buildings and a considerable portion of its walnut-shell inventory, Hammons said.

“The total amount of damage that was covered by insurance was about $2.5 million,” he added. “Pretty sizeable.”

The nut meats are used in food products. Shells are ground into different sizes and used in several processes or products, including sandblasting, oil-well drilling and cosmetics.

Following the damage, the company accelerated its master plan, implementing a new bin-storage system, adding storage buildings and doing other repairs.

While Hammons said that the storage-bin system was part of the company’s long-term vision, “We hadn’t planned on doing that just yet, but we built some storage capacity in that form.” But the company’s newest addition – Hammons Black Walnut Emporium, which opened Labor Day weekend – came about as Stockton struggled to rebuild its downtown, where the tornadoes leveled most of the structures.

“We worked with the downtown business owners from the very beginning to try to help provide some contacts and some leadership, so that they could do some planning and the community could come back in a better way,” Hammons said.

In fact, if there’s a silver lining to the storm clouds, it’s that “it’s an opportunity to make things better than they ever were before, and to have an even more economically vital downtown area,” Hammons said.

One-stop shop

Hammons Products Co. added a nut shop for its Hammons Pantry line of black walnut products and a visitors center, incorporating gourmet coffee, super-premium ice cream and a satellite location for Springfield-based Christian Publishers Outlet into the mix.

The ice cream – made especially for the emporium by Martin Dairy in Humansville – is 16 percent butterfat and comes in eight flavors, three of which use black walnuts.

“It gives us the ability to test-market some new flavors that use black walnuts,” Hammons said.

Joplin-based Richardson’s Candy House, which also has a Springfield location, provides chocolates, truffles and other tasty treats at the emporium, which also offers free Internet access via a wireless fidelity “hot spot.”

In the two months that the emporium has been open, it has exceeded sales expectations, drawing in revenues of about $45,000, Hammons said.

The holiday season, which Hammons said is a popular time for black walnut consumption and gift-giving, is likely to increase the emporium’s bottom line, Hammons said.

Hammons Black Walnut Emporium is housed in an approximately 2,000-square-foot space leased from Mid-Missouri

Bank. Hammons said there’s actually a lease-purchase arrangement, but he declined to provide details.

Hammons Black Walnut Emporium is open 6:30 a.m.- 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 6:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 8 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday.

Nut crop

In 2003, Hammons said, Hammons Products Co., brought in 27 million pounds of nuts, a fairly average haul. While Hammons Products Co. does have a few trees of its own, the black walnut crop is predominantly wild, Hammons said.

This year, the company purchased black walnuts at 250 stations in 16 states, paying $11 per hundredweight of nuts. The last buying day was Nov. 8.

But the crop is down this year, he said, and the company’s expecting between 10 million and 11 million pounds after the final tally.

“We know that every other year seems to be big or small. Just how big or how small depends on a lot of factors, weather mostly. How much energy has been stored up in the tree for the following year is a big factor (and) is dependent on the previous year’s growing season,” Hammons said.

Because of the low number of nuts this year, Hammons said he’s expecting a big crop next year. He added that anywhere between 30 million and 40 million pounds of nuts is considered a very good year, and anything more than 40 million pounds is considered exceptional.