Something’s brewing at former donut shop site
Owners plan to open Aroma espresso bar
WOONSOCKET — Anyone passing through the Court Street, Hamlet Avenue and Front Street intersection recently has likely noticed the signs of a business site renovation in progress at the former Donut X-Press coffee and tea donut shop.
In fact, Toni Germanos and Chaouti (Charlie) Khalil, the owners of the nearby CT Plus convenience store at 11 Hamlet Ave., have bought the property at 17 Front St. and are renovating it inside and out.
Toni Germanos said the local businessmen are planning to open a new enterprise, Aroma espresso bar & cafe, at the site when all the work is completed in about a month.
Germanos and Khalil, who also operate CT Gas at 503 Smithfield Road in North Smithfield, are trying something new with their first coffee shop.
“I feel like the location here is very attractive and it should be a good one,” Germanos said while working at the former Donut X-Press on Monday.
“It is centrally located and that makes it a prime location in the city. If you stand here, you can see everything going on around you,” Germanos said of the traffic passing through the area. “It is a very busy street.”
Germanos will be tapping his
Lebanese background to create Aroma and its offerings of strong espresso drinks, from a traditional brewing machine to the hot cappuccinos and latte’s also popular with the espresso crowd. There will also be iced cold coffee and espresso drinks, breakfast sandwiches and snacks and ice cream for the warmer months.
Khalil sees a lot of potential for the intersection business property and believes that it will be a popular one with those on the morning commute looking for something good to eat.
“I’m feeling that it is going to be perfect because everything that we offer is going to be made fresh,” he said. “All made here, nothing frozen.”
The business property was in need of some renovations when Germanos and Khalil bought it and the first step was gutting the building of its old furnishings to make way for the new layout. New flooring and a new ceiling is being installed and the owners have also put in an allnew counter and service area.
There will be counter-style seating along the windows looking out into Court Square and the city’s Hiker Monument to Spanish-American War veterans, and also a few booths for those
intending to drink, eat and chat with friends.
And Aroma may be only the first of several of the businesses, according to Germanos.
“We want to open another one like this and maybe will put it at 1188 Cumberland Hill Road,” Germanos, said while noting the business owners have an interest in the former BP gas station at the intersection of Mendon Road and Cumberland Hill Road, one of the busiest travel routes in the city.
Consideration of that plan will have wait until the first location gets open and running, something that will take a little more time with the plans the new owners have for the one-time Mister Donut site.
The business hosts about 1,400 square feet of space and has a kitchen in the back room. The top of the store will feature a purple decorative trim, like the CT Gas business in North Smithfield, and the lower part of the building a gray stucco finish that will provide a updated look. Aroma will also be making use of the drive-thru that was created for the prior businesses at the site and empties on to Hamlet at the connection with the Court Street Bridge. “It will be fully renovated, inside and out,” Germanos said of the owners’ plans to have all the work on Aroma finished and the business open within a month.