NATCHEZ — The new owners of the Natchez Coffee Company are hoping to see the crowd of morning regulars grow in the coming months.

Thursday the shop will officially change owners and undergo an expansion.

Bill Furlow and his wife, Davilynn, opened the shop in 2006 and have sold the business to René Adams and Angie Belinkoff.

Belinkoff is the daughter of Monmouth’s owners, Ron and Lani Riches

Adams said customers at the new Natchez Coffee Company will notice a big change in one specific area — the food.

“There’s a huge need for fresh prepared food on the go,” Adams said. “We love what the Furlows did, we’re just going to expand on it.”

And while they’ll still serve coffee, the expansion will be visible on the menu and in the business’s actual square footage.

Adams said the new menu will grow to encompass breakfast, made to order salads and sandwiches.

The new menu is also scheduled to include a hot meal of the day and homemade casseroles.

“We think it’s going to be something people are really going to enjoy,” Adams said.

Adams and Belinkoff are also hoping to capture some of the morning regulars that once gathered at the Marketplace Café for breakfast but have had no place to dine since its closure.

“They haven’t had a place to meet,” Adams said of the early morning eaters.

Adams and Belinkoff are also hoping to address one aspect of dining-out not normally dealt with in Natchez.

“We want to add new dimensions with healthy choices,” she said.

And all the Coffee Company’s dining options will be enjoyed in an expanded dining room.

Current plans call for the conversion of the adjacent building to be renovated into a new dining room.

Adams said that space will allow the business to accommodate more patrons and host private events.

But all these changes will come over time, not overnight.

Adams said the new menu and renovations are scheduled to be completed and in place by Feb. 1.

“It’s going to be a slow transition,” she said.

And it’s a transformation that Furlow believes will be a success.

“Their concept is dynamite,” Furlow said. “People need a quality, full service lunch place.”

Furlow said that he and his wife will stay in Natchez and focus their attention on their communications consulting firm.

And if the Furlows, or anyone else, gets too busy to stop and cook — Natchez Coffee Company will be ready.

“We’ll be there to take care of you,” Adams said.