National coffee chain looking to build new location in Centre County, its third in PA

Happy Valley coffee enthusiasts might soon have another reason to celebrate, as national chain Seven Brew Coffee is looking to build its third Pennsylvania location in College Township.

Based out of Rogers, Arkansas, Seven Brew is a drive-thru-only coffee shop that is proposed for the Hills Plaza Parking Lot. Director of Operations Travis Odom spoke to the College Township Planning Commission on Tuesday night, where he presented a sketch plan and talked about the business.

“Aside from our awesome coffee, the two things we focus most on is efficiency and kindness,” Odom said. “We’ve got some tricks up our sleeve that allows us to get customers in and out of the line as soon as possible while still providing a great customer service experience.”

Some of these tricks include a drink-only menu, a 14-car, two-lane drive-thru, attendants in the line with iPads taking and delivering orders to speed up the process — not dissimilar to Chick-Fil-A’s drive-thru system — and not offering online pickup through Doordash, Grubhub or other online food-delivery services.

By trimming these things, the employees at the shop can focus more on providing an easier, quicker and more friendly experience, Odom said. The average time spent in the Seven Brew drive-thru per customer sat is about four minutes, he said.

The sketch plan provided at the meeting showed the building would be located at 2121 South Atherton Street in the Hills Plaza parking lot, between the Kish and First National banks.

The shop would be built on a 112-foot by 134-foot plot of land in the parking lot, taking the place of 48 pre-existing parking spots.

Minimal construction would be needed to build the coffee shop, and if the official plans are submitted and approved in the future, Seven Brew would bring in two pre-manufactured buildings to be placed atop a four-foot deep foundation — a 510 square-foot building where the coffee would be prepared, and a 210 square-foot storage space and cooler.

Per the recommendation of the planning commission, a rolled curve could also be built around the drive-thru to prevent customers from entering the drive-thru line from the wrong side.

The drive-thru would wrap around the shop in a “C” shape, with customers entering and exiting onto a private drive that wraps around the outside of the Hills Plaza parking lot.

While Odom’s sketch plan presentation kept the planning commission’s questions at bay for the most part, Commission Chair Ray Forziat shared concerns about the coffee shop’s ability to keep traffic flowing on busier days, especially Penn State football game days in the fall.

“I believe that we will keep the lines moving so quickly that additional traffic will not be a concern,” Odom said. “Our busiest location is right next to Arkansas University and not once have we had a traffic problem. If we do have a problem with traffic in the future, we’ll work with the township to make sure that we have a plan to help customers navigate the parking lot, even if that means that we have to have someone out there directing things.”

No timeline was provided for the project, however Odom said that he intends on returning soon to submit an official plan for the commission’s approval.

There is another Pennsylvania Seven Brew location in the Reading Area and one is set to open this month in York County.