Here’s what Cool Beans’ new owners have planned for the downtown Bellefonte coffee shop
Cool Beans Coffee and Tea in Bellefonte has new owners.
Business partners Troy Nihart and Lindsey Klobe, both natives of neighboring Clinton County, officially took over the coffee shop at 141 W. High St. on Tuesday.
Cool Beans, whose sale former owner Sherry Nelson announced in a September Facebook post, opened in 1996 at the same location it is today.
Nihart said he and Klobe were drawn to Cool Beans because of its “established location.”
Klobe and Nihart are part of a coffee roasting facility based out of Florida, and were looking to expand their business horizons to the retail portion of the coffee business, Nihart said. When Klobe saw Cool Beans was for sale, she told Nihart they should check it out.
“We decided that it was a perfect opportunity to work something out with Sherry and get our feet wet in the retail with ... operating a business before we started opening up new locations elsewhere,” he said.
While Nihart lived in California for two decades and recently moved back to the area, Klobe used to work at the Centre County Courthouse and was very familiar with Cool Beans.
Klobe and Nihart’s plans for Cool Beans include a name change, which could go through as soon as April, different coffee and menu items and renovations.
“Obviously (Cool Beans) is in the historical district so it’s going to take a little bit of time to be able to work through everything, but we’re going to look at doing some renovations and adding more food and different offerings to the establishment,” Nihart said.
Though they plan to switch over the coffee to their roaster — which they want to keep secret until things get solidified — Nihart and Klobe want to keep the cozy Cool Beans vibe customers value.
“It’s a really unique atmosphere that’s in here, so it’ll definitely continue to have that vibe to it,” Nihart said.
The duo also has plans to open four other locations in 2020 to sell their signature brand of coffee. They’ll likely be in Clinton County, Nihart said, with one location planned closer to Penn State.
Nelson, a Bald Eagle Area High School graduate and Bellefonte native, is staying at Cool Beans through December, according to a Facebook post from the coffee shop. Nihart said she is helping with training and “catching us up to speed” with all the vendors with which she currently works.
In October, Nelson told the Centre County Gazette that she was selling the business to “pursue a new adventure.” Under her ownership, Cool Beans sold — in addition to coffee, tea and other signature drinks — baked goods made in-house, including the popular baked oatmeal, whose recipe Nelson kept secret.
Klobe and Nihart’s acquisition marks the third time Cool Beans’ ownership has changed in the past decade. Before Nelson took over Cool Beans three-and-a-half years ago, Wendy Fultz owned and operated the coffee shop for eight years. Fultz decided to sell the business in 2016 and open women’s clothing store Helen Foxx and Co. at 122 S. Allegheny St.
This story was originally published December 4, 2019 at 1:34 PM.
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