The Woods Coffee’s new Lakeway Drive location should open by Monday, March 18, the company has announced.
The store, located on the corner of Lakeway Drive and King Street, will be the 14th Woods Coffee shop opened in Whatcom County since the company was founded by the Herman family of Lynden in 2002.
The new store has been under construction for several months. It was initially slated to open last October.
Delay was caused, in part, by work on the new Woods Coffee next to the Regal Cinemas Barkley Village Stadium 16 theater, with its construction occurring parallel to the Lakeway location, a company spokesperson said via email. The company focused its attention on finishing the Barkley Village location to ensure its opening would coincide with the theater’s.
Additionally, the building on Lakeway Drive needed significant renovation, and some of that work was set back by poor weather, the spokesperson said.
The building has been empty since 2011, when a previous tenant, Lychee Buffet, closed down. The location has also been home to a Pizza Hut and a restaurant known as Sambo’s.
Woods Coffee has made substantial changes to building’s interior and exterior. The remodeled, 1,800-square-foot space will feature a drive-thru, a salvaged wood ceiling and booth seating. An adjacent 2,200-square-foot space on the west side of the building is available for a neighboring tenant, which has not yet been chosen, according to the company.
In a press release, company owner Wes Herman said he anticipates the new location will serve a variety of customers, including local college students, shoppers at nearby grocery stores and passing commuters, as well as people using the Airporter Shuttle, which has a pick-up and drop-off location in the parking lot of the GuestHouse Inn next door.
“This intersection seems to be one of the major crossroads of our city,” Herman said, in the press release, “so we’re anticipating guests from all directions.”
Evan Marczynski, lead reporter for The Bellingham Business Journal, can be reached at 360-647-8805, Ext. 5052, or evan@bbjtoday.com.
