Renovations are underway at Susan’s Coffee and Tea. Some of the renovations include new flooring, remodeled bathrooms and the installation of a new computer docking station. TIM MAGAW | SUMMER KENT STATER

Credit: DKS Editors

A renovation at Susan’s Coffee and Tea started in May when a patron overshot a parking spot and ran his car into the side of the building.

Susan’s vice president Milana Estrada had the damage repaired, but she then noticed other areas of the building that needed attention.

“So we thought, ‘Why don’t we fix this and that?'” Estrada said. “Then the floor started coming up, and then one thing led to another.”

And so it “was time,” said Laura Fowler, Susan’s director of administration.

The 623 E. Main St. business is currently undergoing an aesthetic renovation – a makeover like the shop hasn’t seen since the early-1990s, when it became Susan’s.

When the coffee house reopens sometime next week, Estrada said it will have a new hardwood floor, renovated bathrooms and a newly painted kitchen.

Additionally, the paisley floral-patterned wallpaper will be stripped from the wall and replaced with paint.

Employees have been casting their ballots for which colors to paint Susan’s interior walls. So far, the colors chocolate cocoa, caramel latte and awning red lead the contest.

The new paint will give the store’s interior a younger, more modern look, Estrada said.

The furniture, currently stacked and covered for protection, will mostly remain the same, except for one piece being designed by Scott Keressi, senior architecture and environmental design major.

To make Susan’s more student friendly, Keressi is designing a computer docking station for six to eight computers, Estrada said.

Previously, the coffee shop had outlets for only a few computers. The shop is already wireless-enabled.

“I think people will like the way Susan’s will look,” Keressi said. “Probably more modern, not like grandma.”

Estrada said patrons of the shop can expect an increase in prices, but not because of the renovations. The price increase will be in line with other coffee shops, which have the same costs Susan’s has.

Contact news editor Steven Bushong at [email protected].