One popular coffee shop in Ames is soon to be expanding its current location to increase capabilities and keep up with demand.

Morning Bell Coffee Roasters is located in the back of 111 Main Street. With business getting larger, owner Nadav Mer realized they needed more space.

“Things are very busy for us, both for wholesale and retail,” Mer said. “We are at the size and volume that it is hard to have a roastery and a quiet hang out place together.”

Their current store has had to roast more as demand has increased for their products, making it hard to keep the original atmosphere they wanted for the shop. The expansion hopes to fix this issue.

“The nice front space will become the coffee shop part, and what is now our coffee shop and roastery will become all roastery and production,” Mer said. “Our hope is to have it done by spring of this upcoming year, if not by winter.”

Morning Bell currently only occupies half of the building they are in. The other side is filled by a hair salon, but in the next couple weeks the salon is leaving the location. This left an opportunity for Mer to move the shop into that part of the building.

Morning Bell sells lattes, black coffee and much more. This is common in many coffee shops across Ames, but unlike other locations, Morning Bell has its own roastery located right in shop. 

When walking in the building, the shop has multiple works on the wall from local artists. Morning Bell often has live music, poetry night and other events for their customers to enjoy while having their cup of coffee.

This is one way Mer tries to keep the store different from other coffee shops, and he hopes the expansion will allow them to do more of these events.

“The joke is that this is my living room,” Mer said. “Everybody comes and hangs out. It is a very friendly place. Here is it very personal.”

Morning Bell supplies beans to many different locations in Iowa, like Hyvee, Wheatsfield, The Mucky Duck Pub, Dublin Bay Irish Pub & Grill and other locations in Ames.

While allowing more space for separation of retail and wholesale, it could also allow the company to have more events and displays in the future.