Two bright spots on the horizon in Austin’s economy include the opening of a Starbucks coffee shop and a new laundromat.

Jeremy Weidman, store team leader at Target in Austin, confirmed a new Starbucks coffee shop is part of a remodeling project this year at the Austin business.

“At this time it is still part of our remodeling project expected to begin in July,” Weidman said.

The new coffee shop will be located inside the store’s main entrance, which is now an in-house restaurant.

Target store team members will staff the new coffee shop.

According to the store team manger, the store’s existing Target Food Avenue concessions area will remain open.

Hundreds of Starbucks stores have closed across the nation as the economy worsens.

Target also announced last week it was cutting its work force in the state.

The Austin store was not affected by the personnel cutbacks.

Mega clean

Maytag Mega Loan Coin Laundry is opening at the location of a former drive-through oil and lube shop along 18th Avenue Northwest.

Plans call for opening the laundromat after the conversion is made in March.

Wagner Construction is the general contractor for the make-over taking place.

Wayne Fett and his wife, Linda, are the owners.

The couple also own a laundromat in northeast Austin along Fourth Avenue.

The couple also own laundromats at Albert Lea and Bloomington and plan to open another one at Faribault.

According to Wayne Fett, “We just want to make it a clean, safe, warm place for people to do their laundry.”

A part-time attendant will be on duty. The business will be well-lit with large windows grating visibility to the outside to add to the feeling of a safe place, the owner said.

The laundromat will be open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The “Mega” in the new business’ name refers to size and in the laundromat world size does matter, according to Fett.

“We will have machines which can do two, four or six loads at a time,” he said.

A ceramic tile flow, comfortable chairs, big-screen TV and video games, plus all the detergent, bleach and other laundry necessities will also be available.

Fett and his wife have been in the laundromat business for six years. He said the 18th Avenue Northwest location appealed to them because of the traffic flow. U.S. Highway 218 North and 18th Avenue Northwest (Mower County No. 27) are the most heavily-traveled streets/highways in Austin.

“We’re very excited about the prospect of opening this new business in Austin,” the owner said.