Local bakery eyes expansion in Bellefonte, its second shop in Centre County. What to expect

A local Asian bakery and coffee shop is expanding and plans to open a second location.

Chew Chew Bun is prepared to open at 141 W. High St. in Bellefonte, the former home of URBN Flavourhaus. Owner Skye Chang said he hopes to open the business by mid-June at the latest.

The menu will likely look similar to what is offered at the eatery’s downtown State College location , which includes Taiwanese-inspired pastries, coffee and tea. Chang also teased the possibility of adding a “new menu line.”

There are about 35 seats in the dining area of the Bellefonte location, meaning it offers about five times as many seating options as there are in State College.

Chang had not settled as of Monday on definitive operating times for the new location. He said the initial plan is to have the business open six days a week with hours that run from the morning until mid-afternoon.

Once two or three full-time employees are on board and get their legs under themselves, Chang said the business will likely expand its hours. He declined to share the length of the business’ lease.

“There’s a lot of mixed feelings. No. 1 is nervous. Second is excited to see the business is growing and was able to expand,” Chang said. “Also very excited that we can expand in a different community.”

The business’ first foray into the Centre County market was at the Nittany Mall, a location that Chang said drew in regular customers from both State College and Bellefonte.

Once it relocated to a larger space on East Beaver Avenue, the business lost some of its Bellefonte customers. The hope moving forward with the Bellefonte location, Chang said, is to “see more familiar faces.”

That’s not all Chew Chew Bun has in the works. Chang said he’s been looking for a space to ramp up mass production of the eatery’s pastries, while the business’ Instagram page says a third location is in the pipeline .

Attempts to reach URBN ownership were not successful. The business closed its Park Place location in Bellefonte in August. Before URBN, the shop was longtime home of Cool Beans.

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