Coffee is a big deal at the Snoqualmie Falls Candy Factory. Even in the disarray of a remodel, new owner Terry Willingham frets about not having coffee ready for an already regular customer, while the outgoing owners, Wes Sorstokke and his wife, Sharon Nikko, joke about being able to spend their days on the other side of the counter, drinking coffee.

Food is pretty important too, though.

Willingham is a chef “– a real one –” he says, and he’d been looking for his own business for a few months. He stopped looking when he found the Candy Factory, which he and his family bought recently.

“The nostalgia of this place is irresistible,” he said, on a short break in renovations last week to talk about his plans.

“Fast casual dining is the new thing,” he said, so his restaurant will offer that, through “an expanded sandwich menu, of sandwiches made fresh in front of you, piled high with fresh-cut vegetables and a variety of dressings, dripping from your elbow.”

Eventually, the menu will also feature gluten-free foods and grab-and-go breakfasts complete with calorie counts.

“But you can make something as fattening as you want,” Willing said reassuringly. “We are still a candy factory.”

He also wants to reassure the restaurant’s loyal customers, many of whom he met in recent weeks as Sorstokke has introduced them, that their favorites will still be there.

“Everyone he meets, the first thing they say is ‘these guys have great grinders,’” Sorstokke said.

“His customers are really loyal,” Willingham confirmed.

The Candy Factory was closed for renovations April 13, and Willingham hopes to reopen by the end of the month. He will operate the shop with his wife, Geralyn, son, Josh and daughter, Ally, and the existing Candy Factory staff.

Sorstokke and Nikko are on hand to help the new owners through the transition, and probably will be for a while.

“As part of the deal, I promised to work a month for free,” says Sorstokke, with a wry smile. “He chose July.”

Sorstokke and Nikko will retain ownership of the building for now, too.

The Willinghams are also taking ownership of the restaurant’s recipes, to carry on with the caramel corn, taffy and other sweets.

“We want it to be as good as it has been,” said Nikko.

Although the couple has been looking to sell the store since last fall, they will probably benefit from a slow transition, too. Sorstokke said, with a little surprise, that he’s been at the shop for 17-and-a-half years. They both got subdued at the thought.

“Really, we just want to thank our fabulous customers,” said Sorstokke.

“We will miss them all,” said Nikko.

He plans to focus on his music in the future. He sings in two barbershop quartets and coaches voice students.

Nikko has plans, too: “I’m going to be in my acre-and-a-half yard. I love to garden.”

Meanwhile, the Willinghams, operating under the name Grateful Endeavors, Inc., are also thankful, “to Wes Sorstokke, Sharon Nikko and Dr. Richard Washburn, for providing us the opportunity to carry on the tradition of the Snoqualmie Falls Candy Factory for the next generation.”