BELLINGHAM - The Woods Coffee is heading into the home stretch for its 14th Whatcom County café project.
The company is currently renovating the former Lychee Buffet building on the corner of Lakeway Drive and King Street, near a Fred Meyer store. Owner Wes Herman said workers will be concentrating on interior work this week and plan to have the café ready at the end of February.
"I think people will really see the building take shape in the next couple of weeks," Herman said.
Renovations got off to a slow start because of some unexpected extra work that needed to be done to the building, which was also home to a couple of pizza restaurants over the years.
The Woods Coffee will occupy the east portion of the building, including a drive-through window, while leasing about 2,200 square feet of space on the west side. Herman said the space is drawing interest from potential tenants, and the company is trying to decide whether to split that unoccupied space into two tenant locations.
As for the company's most recent opening, the café near the new Regal Barkley Village Stadium 16 movie theater, Herman said they've been pleasantly surprised by sales.
"We thought there might be a drop-off (in sales after the theater opened), but it hasn't been much," Herman said.
Reach Business Editor Dave Gallagher at 360-715-2269 or dave.gallagher@bellinghamherald.com. Read his business blog at blogs.bellinghamherald.com/business or follow him on Twitter at @bhamheraldbiz.
