COVID-19 threw him a curve, but Justin Shepherd has found a way to follow through on his plans to establish a second location for his Spencer’s Coffee restaurant.

Those slightly altered plans will come to fruition Tuesday, when a new Spencer’s at 1265 U.S. 31-W By-Pass will open for drive-through customers only.

“It’s a good feeling to have it complete and ready to open,” Shepherd said. “We were 90 percent done when the COVID-19 stuff hit. We had intended to open the bypass location to inside dining first and then add the drive-through. The COVID stuff completely flipped that plan.”

A monthslong renovation of the 2,000-square-foot building that had been a Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken and then a Pharoah’s Hookah Lounge will culminate in an opening with the same social distancing constraints that have hindered and in some cases shuttered other local restaurants.

But this seems like a natural progression for Spencer’s, even in unnatural times. As the popularity of its coffees, lattes, pastries, soups and sandwiches has grown, so has the restaurant itself.

At its location at 915 College St., Spencer’s has evolved and expanded since Shepherd purchased it 15 years ago. From its original seating capacity of 25, Spencer’s has grown into an eatery that was able to seat 120 before the coronavirus pandemic.

Since March, the downtown Spencer’s has been operating exclusively as a takeout restaurant, even after state restrictions were relaxed to allow inside seating of up to 33 percent of capacity.

“We’ve been able to adapt to the regulations in a way that has kept most of our customers and staff,” Shepherd said. “Our sales are down about half, but we still count ourselves very fortunate.”

Shepherd said pivoting to curbside delivery and takeout “wasn’t too difficult” because Spencer’s already had a good number of takeout customers. He has delayed opening his dining area because of the building’s layout.

“It’s a long, narrow building, so we don’t have a good way to do 33 percent of capacity and make it effective,” he said. “We hope to have seating open soon. It will depend on direction from the state. We’re looking forward to getting back to normal.”

For now, the first priority for Shepherd and his crew is launching a bypass location that he hopes will expand his customer base.

The downtown location, he admits, isn’t for everybody.

“We have a lot of occasional customers who would probably be regular customers if it was more convenient for them,” he said. “For some people, it’s not easy to see us as often as they’d like.

“The new Spencer’s will be on a main thoroughfare and will be convenient for a lot of people.”

Shepherd said the bypass location had a “soft” opening over the weekend and will open in earnest at 7 a.m. Tuesday. It will be open from 7 a.m. until 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and will not be a carbon copy of the downtown Spencer’s.

“The menus are a little different,” he said. “The drink offerings are nearly the same as downtown, but the food menu is different. We’ll only have breakfast and brunch items and will serve them until 1 p.m.

“We won’t be serving the lunch menu at the bypass store mainly because they’re not built for a drive-through environment.”

As the state allows, Shepherd said he will open up seating for about 35 patrons inside the bypass location and another dozen or so on a small patio.

The new Spencer’s should also create a few more jobs.

“We’ll be staffing up over the next couple of months,” Shepherd said. “I anticipate adding about 15 people to our team, which is about 20 now.”