Fresh juice, fine coffee, surrounded by local produce: It sounds just like my daily breakfast because I’m almost certain mini-powdered doughnuts, Cap’n Crunch and Nutter Butters are all grown locally. Well, regardless, get ready for an upgrade in the world of coffee and juice establishments, as The Merc has plans for a new shop as part of a major renovation project.

The Merc is in the beginning stages of an approximately $500,000 renovation at its grocery at Ninth and Iowa streets. A new coffee and juice shop will be one of the more visible changes shoppers will notice. General Manager Rita York Hennecke says The Merc will be expanding the coffee and smoothie program and will be adding organic juices to the menu. Currently, the store’s espresso bar is kind of tucked away in a corner of the building. Hennecke said the location will change to a spot that is much more visible to shoppers.

“You won’t have to be in the know anymore to get your coffee,” she said.

Hennecke said the new coffee/juice bar also will have an expanded seating area, will offer an expanded line of baked goods from The Merc’s in-store bakery, and will put a greater emphasis on a quick-service menu.

“We want people to be able to stop by on their way to work and get a cup of coffee,” she said.

Other improvements in the renovation project include a new express check-out lane and a relocation and upgrade to the store’s customer service desk. The desk will be more visible and will be a great place to tout The Merc’s cooperative ownership structure, Hennecke said. The Merc has about 7,000 co-op members who are owners of the store, although you do not have to be an owner of the store to shop there.

Some renovations to the office area and receiving area also are on tap for phase I of the renovation. Work is expected to begin Sept. 29 and last through Nov. 11. The store will remain open throughout the renovation.

The store also is planning a phase II renovation that would begin one early 2015, pending approval of the co-op’s board of directors. That will include a new ceiling and new energy efficient lighting system for the grocery.

Hennecke said the renovations are a sign that The Merc recognizes it needs to continue investing in itself in order to thrive in what is becoming a much more competitive grocery market. Sprouts, a farmers’ market-style grocer, is under construction near Wakarusa and Overland Drive in West Lawrence, and Natural Grocers on 23rd Street has come to the Lawrence market since The Merc’s last major renovation in 2007. Plus traditional grocery stores are expanding their health, organic and locally grown departments, which has long been the calling card of The Merc.

“We are preparing for increased competition,” Hennecke said. “We understand we have to step up our game in so many ways. We have started to do that with our pricing strategy, our sampling program, and now this renovation. We want to be strong. We don’t just want to survive competition.”

The timing of the renovation also is good in another way: The Merc is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, which is amazing. But not as amazing as the fact that apparently Nutter Butters aren’t grown anywhere. How can that be? They look like a giant peanut.

In other news and notes from around town:

• If you eat enough Nutter Butters and Cap’n Crunch, I’ve found that you may want to take a bit of a walk before your midmorning nap. Soon, Lawrence residents will have a new trail to walk on. City Hall has been notified it has received a grant to build a new riverside trail that will connect Constant Park near Sixth and Tennessee streets with Burcham Park near Second and Indiana streets.

The Sunflower Foundation has provided a $53,460 grant. The city will provide an equal amount in matching funds to build the trail that will be a little more than a half-mile long. Its path will be along the banks of the Kansas River, which means Lawrence kind of will have a river walk adjacent to downtown Lawrence. (If you see me in a flat-bottom boat with my guitar and my big sombrero, you’ll know I’m likely just trying to re-create the San Antonio river walk scene.) There is a makeshift trail through the area now, but this one will be an improved trail that also won’t face the risk of washing away as the river rises.

The new trail will tie into the Outside for a Better Inside Trail, which is a hike and bike trail that goes around the large pond that is behind the former VFW property. That property has been donated to the city by the Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center. The property is being converted into the city’s newest park, the Sandra J. Shaw Community Health Park. The Outside for a Better Inside Trail is complete. Once the riverside trail is complete, users basically will have a continuous path from about Lawrence Memorial Hospital to downtown.

• If your style of walking or running involves being sprayed with colored corn starch, you are in luck. The Color Run is making a return to downtown Lawrence. The event has filed for the necessary permits to run in the downtown area on Oct. 18. The Saturday race is expected to draw about 4,000 participants to downtown.

If you are not familiar with the event, which has been run in Lawrence since 2012, participants wear white clothing to start the race, then run through several color zones where people spray colored cornstarch on them.

The city is proposing that the event, since it is a for-profit operation, fully reimburse the city for any money it spends on staffing or cleaning up afterward. The city also is requiring the event to have volunteers available to direct traffic at each intersection affected by the race. That is designed to cut down on the number of police officers needed to staff the event.

As for the route, click here to see a map.