&8220;For us, this is a business, not a hobby,&8221; said Bill Furlow. &8220;You can&8217;t sell things if you&8217;re not open, and we want to provide things not already offered in Natchez, a different menu and different hours.&8221;

Furlow and his wife, Davilynn, did their research before deciding to open the business. They learned that a coffee shop and an ice cream shop were two things missing downtown. Why not combine them?

And they listened to locals and visitors say, &8220;there is no place to go between 2 and 5,&8221; Bill said.

The Natchez Coffee menu will include fresh breakfast pastries in the morning; sandwiches made with freshly baked bread daily; desserts; coffee from Caffe D&8217;arte of Seattle; espresso-based drinks, hot and iced teas and cold drinks; and 16 flavors of Blue Bell ice cream.

&8220;We&8217;ve tried to find the best in all these categories,&8221; Bill said.

Historically, bars have been places to meet for conversation, he said. &8220;Now, we want to be that place.&8221;

Customer service and hospitality will be top priorities, Davilynn said. &8220;We want people to come by here and hang out; we want this to be a place for a little business meeting.&8221;

As part of the former Feltus Brothers Hardware store, 509 Franklin St., the coffee shop will retain the look of an old interior, they said.

In keeping with the old building, they have found old church pews in Louisiana and other older pieces to mix with modern tables and chairs.

The working part of the shop is sparkling new and designed by a company that specializes in coffee shops.

The decision to move to Natchez from Southern California, where they had lived for 27 years, was a surprise even to them, the Furlows said.

Both are journalists who had successful careers with the Los Angeles Times and with other newspapers before that.

When they began to think of leaving California, she was assistant hiring editor at the Times. &8220;I loved my job, but I had a three-hour commute,&8221; she said.

After 15 years with the Times, Bill for the last 10 years has had his own crisis communications consulting business. &8220;I was always interested in that, how some people could have a bad situation and come out smelling like a rose and for others it could be a disaster.&8221;

Bill grew up in Brookhaven, and Davilyn, in East Texas. In recent years, they had begun to visit New Orleans on their way to see Bill&8217;s mother in Brookhaven.

On one of those trips, October 2004, &8220;we came to Natchez, stayed at Monmouth and had dinner at The Castle,&8221; Davilyn said. Through a mutual friend, they had been in contact with Ron and Mimi Miller for advice about their Natchez stay.

The charm of the town and hospitality of the people wooed them. They began to talk about moving to Natchez and operating a bed-and-breakfast inn. &8220;I was thinking, &8216;by the time we get home, she will have forgotten the idea,&8217;&8221; Bill said.

She didn&8217;t. &8220;I got books about running a B&B and we decided to go back to Natchez and stay long enough to be sure it was a place where we wanted to live,&8221; Davilyn said.

The bed-and-breakfast idea became less appealing, but Natchez continued to attract them. That is when they went to the Natchez-Adams County Chamber of Commerce, met with Laura Godfrey, CEO, and came away with the idea of a coffee and ice cream shop.

&8220;No one other than our son knew we were doing this,&8221; Bill said. They made an offer on a house and put their California house on the market.

The more they saw of Natchez, the surer they were of their decision, the Furlows said. &8220;We asked, &8216;how does the town feel about newcomers and particularly about Californians,&8217;&8221; Bill said.

They found openness, Davilyn said. &8220;Natchez is not closed to newcomers,&8221; she said.

He has never been a person to look back, Bill said. &8220;There has never been a moment when this didn&8217;t feel right,&8221; he said. &8220;I thought we were young enough to make one more big change in our lives but old enough to think about the next phase.&8221;

They have hired 15 part-time employees and in the past week have seen the shop move closer to reality. Another week, and the doors will open.

&8220;Now, we&8217;re Natchezians,&8221; Davilyn said.