After nearly 50 years of operation, Peanuts Deluxe Café, a restaurant located less than 500 ft from San José State, saw a change in hands at the beginning of the month. 

Joseph Huh has owned the business, located on  275 E San Fernando St, since 2018 and succeeded his uncle, Myun Chang, who owned it since 1978. 

“I had two good years of business until the pandemic hit, and then in 2020, we all shut down,” Huh said. “I think the school was closed until 2023, like in-person classes were closed and everything was online.” 

Huh said that with in-person classes being cancelled because of the pandemic, the business struggled for three years. 

He said he used all his savings just to keep the business going, and now just wants to get out. 

However, Huh said he finds it important for the concept of Peanuts to remain the same. 

“I definitely went through a whole process of finding a new owner, and a lot of people were interested, but they wanted to change the whole concept of Peanuts and the community– they didn’t really care,” he said. 

Huh eventually found the new owner, Richard Hobbs, an immigration lawyer in San José who has deep roots in the community. 

Hobbs attended SJSU for his master’s in the ’80s and regularly ate at Peanuts.

“Opening it up to the students and also the community is really important, and to engage the community in dialogue,” Hobbs said. “We want to open it up for social events, social awareness, and sporting events.” 

He said he appreciated the community aspect of the restaurant, which is something he wants to maintain. 

While the menu is currently the same, Hobbs plans to expand the dining options after the health department approves the current menu. 

Hobbs also plans to host open mics starting at 7 p.m. on Fridays, along with happy hours from 4-7 p.m. on Thursdays through Sundays.

“People can come and talk about whatever is on their minds, but we’re also going to be having speakers come in to talk about special issues,” Hobbs said. 

The restaurant also underwent multiple renovations; walls were repainted blue and gold (SJSU colors), booths, couches, and new tables were added, and renovations to the kitchen were made for the staff. 

The restaurant is popular with Fraternities and Sororities, and Hobbs said it will host many of their fundraisers.

“We want to let it be known that community organizations, sororities, fraternities, clubs, faculty associations, they’re welcome to come and have events,” Hobbs said. 

Hobbs is the founder of Human Agenda, a collective in San José with a mission of forging democratic local institutions, according to its website.  

He took ownership, intending to transform Peanuts into a worker cooperative, which he said values democracy, equity, cooperation, kindness and sustainability.

“That was the second purpose, to create a democratically-run worker-owned cooperative where the workers receive the profits and not just one person, like the typical restaurant where one person gets all the money,” Hobbs said. 

In worker cooperatives, the workers own the business, have representation, and vote for the board of directors, according to a Democracy at Work Institute webpage.  

Annika Sutter, a SJSU fourth-year marketing student, has been a cashier at Peanuts for about a year. 

“It feels like a lot more energy, which I love. It used to be a lot more cozy, though, like a little breakfast place, and people would come in and study,” Sutter said. “But now, they repainted everything and it’s brighter.” 

She said she noticed changes to Peanuts immediately after the new ownership, but in a good way. 

Sutter is responsible for the advertisement for the business and has created fliers and a new Instagram page for the restaurant. 

“My parents went here and they raved about Peanuts, they were like ‘have you been to Peanuts yet?’ when I was a freshman, and I was like, ‘no, what is that?’”, Sutter said. “It was always like a if you know you know type of place.” 

With new advertisement strategies, Sutter said she hopes it can help the business gain more traction. 

For the entirety of October, Peanuts has been offering 20% off for all customers. 

Starting in November, they will return to the original prices, but will keep 20% off for sororities, fraternities, clubs, faculty associations and nonprofit organizations. 

“We want the community to know that this is a place where they can find information about events in the community and also that there will be events right here at Peanuts,” Hobbs said. “We want people to be engaged.”