Hungry customers can grab a coffee and food while shopping at Paint Perfection in El Campo, Texas.

The Coffee Bar at Paint Perfection started out as an idea owner Molli Bodungen had for utilizing her paint store’s building better. Soon, Bodungen’s creative dream took on a life of its own, becoming a popular spot in town.

“We didn’t have a coffee shop in our town at all,” Bodungen says. “I started getting ideas. What if I opened a real coffee shop?”

She built a coffee bar into the paint shop, added a sandwich station and began selling drip coffee, espresso drinks, cinnamon rolls, hot soups and sandwiches. She also arranged tables around the store for customers to sit and eat.

Paint sales went up 30 percent the first year as local DIYers dropped by to get coffee and realized their new coffee shop was primarily a paint store.

Then Bodungen noticed her loyal contractor customers started avoiding the store around lunchtime because they couldn’t find parking during the lunch rush. Some of her DIY customers began asking her to get rid of paint to make space for more tables for dining.

Her solution was to open Molli B’s, a standalone restaurant across town designed to accommodate dine-in customers. Bodungen kept the coffee bar, but now only offers Grab & Go items and pastries at the paint shop. Customers can get a free drip coffee or iced tea while shopping or they can opt to buy fancier drinks.

The new arrangement has kept customers happy while allowing the in-store coffee bar to continue attracting the DIYers who didn’t previously shop at Paint Perfection.

“We have built a relationship over coffee and so they trust me with their paint,” Bodungen says.