[September 02, 2011] Rex Theater turns lobby, side shop into a Coffee House for six days a week Tweet Sep 01, 2011 (Clay Center Dispatch - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- In the first couple of days The Rex Coffee House opened as a business inside The Rex Theater, owner Ann Hogan already has regulars coming in. The new business offers something that's hard to find in Clay Center -- premium coffee, including mochas, espresso, chai, cappuccino, iced coffee, healthified mocha freeze and New England coffee and tea. The coffees come in two sizes -- small (12 ounces) and a large (20 ounces), tea comes in three sizes. Coffees prices range from 80 cents for small espressos or New England Coffee, ($1.75 for a large) $1.25 for small mochas and cappuccinos ($2 for a large). $1.50 for hot chocolate or iced coffee ($2 for a large), and a $1.75 for a small healthified mocha freeze ($2.50 for a large.). You can get flavored coffees made by New England Coffee too, including caramel lattes and cinnamon. The espressos and healthified mocha freeze are handmade, which are "a lot of work," but a few of their regulars like them. The Rex Coffee House is the first coffee shop to sell a healthified mocha freeze handmade from a recipe that she got online from New England Coffee Web site. The company is so excited by this that a representative from the company is making a special trip to Clay Center in October to try it, Hogan said. "He can't wait to come down to check it out," she said. The Coffee House is also selling smoothies, including banana, strawberry and other flavors. You can get one of those for $1.50 for a small or $2 for a large. "The kids in high school really like the smoothies," Hogan said. "The strawberry is gone every morning." You can also get an array of muffins, Danishes, crumb cakes and cookies and madeleines for under a $1, and you purchase many of the same theater concession items you could before, including fountain sodas. Hogan has made the lobby and the east shop a cool place for kids to hang out by placing tables, lounge furniture and a TV connected to an X-box. The shop will soon offer cable TV and Internet access, and continue to make renovations, she said. "One girl said she it has a really homey feeling, that she could come in to sit down and read a book," Hogan said. "For her to say that makes me feel real good." Regulars include not just high school students, but also fire fighters and EMTs, people coming in before and after work. Hogan said she was surprised that mothers with young children are also coming in during the day, and she has had a few out-of-town visitors interested in seeing the theater itself. The Coffee House is open 7 a.m. to 5:30 Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Peak periods are before and after school, and around 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. Already the hours have changed once -- Hogan first opened at 6 a.m., but didn't have any customers until about 7 a.m. She said she may make an adjustment in the hours later. On Friday and Saturday nights The Rex is transformed back into a theater, which mostly involves moving the tables out of the lobby. On the theater side of the business, Hogan said they are trying different and more flexible times to get people in when they want see movies. This weekend's showing of The ZooKeeper, for example, will play after Friday's football game is over. ___ (c)2011 the Clay Center Dispatch (Clay Center, Kan.) Visit the Clay Center Dispatch (Clay Center, Kan.) at www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?brd=1160 Distributed by MCT Information Services [ Back To TMCnet.com's Homepage ]