Somerville nut roaster Q Nuts is closing its store in Davis Sq. and will be focusing on online sales in the future. — Photos by Jeffrey Shwom

By Jeffrey Shwom

A local nut roaster, Q’s Nuts, is transitioning operations more online and closing its brick-and-mortar near Davis Square in June, while bakery and pastry shop Hearth & Hug Bakery takes over the lease. “Somerville is an amazing community in terms of the people … the customers and the fellow businesses that we’ve met,” shared co-owner Beth Quinn. “The neighbors, the people that come in. We have a lot of regular customers, and for that, I’m sad.”

Started as an event roaster in 2000 and known for their chocolate-covered and spicy nut flavors, Q’s Nuts artisanal offerings have become a fixture in locally crafted food in Somerville. They have seen much growth and changing customer behavior. Before their retirement in a few years, co-owners Beth and Brian “Q” Quinn are focused on transitioning operations to their son Aedan with plans to continue to grow their wholesale, Boston Public Market, and online businesses. 

Q’s Nuts shifted to wholesale roasting in the 2000s before opening its roasting, packaging, and retail facility on Highland Ave. at Cedar St. in 2012. Eight successful years later, COVID hit, and they noticed a “major shift in how people buy things … people are shifting away from brick and mortar and they’re shopping online.”

As small business owners who have to decide when to pivot and change, she and Q decided that their business has to “shift with the times.” Three years ago, Beth and Q bought a 5,000 square foot commercial kitchen and storage facility in Methuen, and with rising costs and changes to buying behavior, they do not need the Somerville location anymore for cooking and packaging. “Somerville is a very special place for us and we were attached to it too, but it’s really…”, Beth’s voice trailed off.

Also, in their experience, the neighborhood has changed. There used to be more college students in the area, and now there seem to be more “condos” around. They do “brisk” retail online, and they still operate a Boston Public Market retail stall, which is above the Haymarket green line station and has dollar-per-hour parking.

Plus, just because they are closing in Somerville does not mean people cannot buy their product, Beth wanted to make clear. Folks can buy case flavors online, and Beth is willing “to ship anything they bought in our store in Somerville…we’re looking at ways to make it easy for people to maybe not stop in the store anymore, but still support us and still get the products that they love.”

With two years left on the lease and good landlord relations, Q’s referred pastry shop Hearth & Hug Bakery , to take over the space. The bakery, run by an alum of Flour Bakery, Modern Pastry, and Union Square Donuts, raises funds for charity every three months and donates 10 percent of the sales of a chosen pastry.

Their website shows coffee cakes, scones, croissants, and baked chocolate chip cookies, to name a few offerings. Beth and Natalie Hug met at the public market, and Natalie wanted to open a space beyond the public market. “We started to talk to her about our space. She came and looked at it. She really loved it. She’s a really good person and runs a great business. So we felt the transition would be seamless, and we also felt we were kind of saving our landlords from uncertainty.”

With one business graduating from Somerville and another from Boston, it feels more certain that the corner will still be as sweet, savory, and local as before.

Note: this interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and brevity.