For the last several months, the scent of coffee brewing and a small sign in the window of 205 E. Main St. has tantalized many walking through downtown.

Its message, “coming soon,” has enticed a number of interested people to cup their hands over their eyes and peek through the glass.

Soon, curious customers will be able to see first-hand the hard work that has been put in on the other side of the window, as Top Heavy Coffee officially opens its doors next Wednesday, Sept. 28.

Owners Eric and Wendy Halder hope those who frequent the business will feel right at home in the space, which they have crafted to be a comfortable place to relax or spend time with friends.

“We were looking for a place to go, hang out, buy a cup of coffee or tea or whatever,” Wendy said. “There just wasn’t a place like what we were looking for.”

After nearly two years of extensive research into the coffee world and renovations to the storefront, the Halders feel they are ready to share the fruits of their labor with the community. It is just in time for the Apple Festival.

The building, which has housed a number of different businesses over the years, including a shoe store Wendy once purchased her school shoes from, has been completely transformed to become the coffee house it is today.

Like the history of the building, many pieces inside the coffee shop have stories to tell.

Take for example, the custom-made bar where baristas make and serve drinks. The wooden tabletop is made of recycled beams from a dilapidated farmhouse Wendy’s parents purchased in Berrien Center. The benches along the west wall of the business are former pews from a church in Benton Harbor.

Tommy Panigot, daily operations manager for the facility and a childhood friend of Wendy’s, said another common theme inside the coffee shop is the local source of goods.

“We’re carrying Veni’s chocolate, for example. We’re carrying honey from Eau Claire,” he said. “We’re getting comics from Buy Me Toys in South Bend, and our coffee comes from MadCap” in Grand Rapids.

The wall behind the benches will showcase work by local artists, and music played on a record player will be purchased from Rumor Has It, just across the street from the coffee shop. Eventually, local musicians, poets or speakers will perform in the space by the west window.

“We want to be a place where collaboration can happen,” Panigot said. “We want to offer a good product, but I think we’re all excited about the byproduct of offering a good product.”

Panigot and the Halders believe that byproduct is offering a space where students can do their homework, or business groups can reserve a conference table to meet over coffee.

“In its nature, a coffee house is a hub,” Panigot said. “A coffee house is a place where it’s multi-generational, and also comes with a variety of people — blue collars, business people who just need a cup to go. … That’s the exciting thing for me, to see all these subcultures merging because they appreciate coffee.”

Panigot will work with a staff of five baristas, including his wife, Vanja. Wendy said Tommy was invaluable to the process of developing the coffee house, given his previous experience at a popular coffee producer in Seattle.

Now that he and his wife have moved back to Berrien County after 10 years in Washington, Tommy is excited to revisit his passion for coffee and share it with others, while bringing a totally different type of business environment than he feels Niles has seen before.

“Our space is designed differently than anything on this strip. Our product is different from anything on this strip, and on top of that, our product is specialty coffee, which is different from the coffee fare people are used to in the mainstream market,” Panigot said.

Nonetheless, Panigot said he is excited to share his knowledge with those who want to learn, or simply serve up a quick drip to those in a hurry.

“First and foremost, we just want to know the people here,” he said.