After a few years of negotiating with Eastern to lease the former location of Coffee Express, Keith Bliss’ Java Beanery & Bakery is finally coming into fruition in the Martin Luther King Jr. University Union sometime before Labor Day.

“I have been working on it for a long time,” Bliss, the managing operator of the upscale coffee vendor as well as the owner of Jitters & Bliss on Lincoln Avenue said. “I won the bid to lease it and negotiated out the price three weeks.”

Only the cash register and a few minor touch-ups are preventing the coffee operation from opening Bliss said.

“We are on the edge (of opening),” said Mark Hudson, director of University Housing and Dining Services. “A few pieces need to come together to get this thing open. This is a fun service because you are giving people a treat.”

Java B & B is a far cry esthetically from Coffee Express, which was much more simple than the new coffee joint. Not only are the walnut-stained wood counter tops and chiseled cabinets more appealing at the newly-redesigned java stand, but all the equipment, including the oven and coffee machines, is more visually available than Coffee Express.

“I think it will be great; students have waited a long time for this,” said Jody Horn, director of Residence Hall Dining Services. “Dining Services came up with the design of Java B & B.”

Horn and colleagues picked out the design and equipment that will anchor the facility. She said the space was prepared last spring, before Bliss even officially won the bid.

“Jody (Horn) did the research (in search of a design),” Hudson said. “She did the very best to find this design.”

The upscale features and design of the the coffee operation were put in place by Eastern’s facilities workers, except for the cabinets and counters, which were installed by Stevens Industries, Horn said.

Bliss said his main priority in Java B & B is customer service and giving students and staff a sensory experience.

“Our goal is to be customer-oriented,” he said. “We want to make students and staff happy.”

Java B & B is also offering a much more extensive menu of items in comparison to the former Coffee Express. Although the offerings will vary slightly from Jitters & Bliss, he said he is all about trying out new items based on customer desires. For instance, soy milk will be offered for a trial period depending on the feedback from customers on the product, he said.

Besides a variety of Seattle’s Best brand coffees, Bliss said the stand will also offer teas, all-natural fruit smoothies, frappes, shakes, a yet-to-be-decided premium brand ice cream, cookies, bagels and eventually pastry items.

Bliss said the university eliminated the possibility of his own homemade ice cream, currently sold at Jitters & Bliss, being sold at his union stand.

“The university wants to do something different,” he said. “The university wants branded items students from Chicago will be familiar with.”

However, the one drawback of the upscale stand is that it will not accept students’ Dining Dollars stored on their Panther Cards. Cash, credit cards and checks with a local address written on them will be the only methods of payment accepted, Bliss said. Prices will differ slightly from Jitters & Bliss, he said, in that they may be slightly increased.

“This operation is not a big operation,” Hudson said. “The number of Dining Dollars would run (Java B & B) over. The use of Dining Dollars would make it unmanageable. It is a singular standing operation.”

Bliss displayed no worries or regrets about leaving Dining Dollars out of his Java B & B operation. In fact, he said he is quite excited about the many upcoming opportunities he will have to serve students and staff treats they will enjoy.

“We will evolve based on Eastern’s students’ and staff’s desires,” Bliss said. “We’ll do whatever works.”

Once Java B & B opens, business hours will be from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.