The mixed aroma of coffee beans and soap greets the noses of humans and canines alike as they enter Barks & Beans, a 10-month-old business here that offers an unlikely pairing of services: dog grooming and caffeinated beverages.

Customers enter the 1,200-square-foot lower South Hill business—divided into two designated spaces—on the "barks" half, which is devoted to dog washing and grooming with a row of five dog-washing stalls along one wall.

Caddies full of dog shampoos, conditioners, and ear cleaners line a rack opposite the washing stations and are available for use by dog owners who come in and pay a fee of $12 to use the business's facilities to give their four-legged friends a good scrub down, says Roger Villareal, one of its co-owners.

From there, a second door leads to the business's "beans" counterpart, which has a small-town cafe feel and features a menu of espresso drinks, bottled beverages, and deli-style fare of sandwiches and salads.

Barks & Beans opened last November in a shopping center at 1314 S. Grand that's anchored by Savory Restaurant & Lounge, and the business employs three people aside from Villareal and Kimmie Brown, the business's other owner.

"When you first hear the name, it sounds kinda odd," he says.

Adds Brown, "But when people come in and see it, that changes. People see our name and wonder what we are."

The two long-time friends say that about a year and a half ago they began putting together a business model that would incorporate Brown's desire to open her own coffee shop and Villareal's vision of a dog-grooming business into one operation.

"Kim came up with the name, and that was when the light clicked and we had to do it," Villareal says.

Both had left previous jobs in the hospitality industry here, and when they began planning the business, they say they wanted to come up with a means of employment that would allow them to have more flexible schedules and would be unlike many other coffee shops or dog grooming businesses here.

"We thought it would be a smart way to save money," Brown says. "At the time, the economy was bad, and we thought we could pool our money and get a great location for less than for just one business."

Brown says she'd formerly worked as a bartender downtown, and Villareal previously was a co-owner of the Monterey Cafe, at 9 N. Washington.

While the dog-washing area at Barks & Beans is separated from the coffee shop portion of the business by a wall and a second door that the owners built into the space themselves, the faint scent of dog soap still lingers in the air of the cozy dining space. Windows between the two spaces also allow pet owners to watch their pet being cared for by one of Barks & Beans' groomers.

Guest tables of varying sizes are strategically placed near the front of the business's small dining area, which is well-lit due to the floor-to-ceiling windows at the shop's front.

A small outdoor eating area near the business's main entrance allows customers to dine with their pets present. Pets aren't allowed into the eatery side due to health regulations.

Free Wi-Fi connections also are offered to the business's customers.

Brown adds that the business currently is awaiting approval from the Washington State Liquor Control Board on a liquor-license application so that it can start serving beer and wine in addition to its espresso menu. She says she hopes that once customers have the option of ordering wine or beer while their pet is being groomed, the business's sales will increase.

In sticking with the business's canine theme, Brown says she plans to sell alcoholic drinks with the word dog incorporated into the brewery's or winery's name, such as beers made by Laughing Dog Brewery, of Sandpoint, Idaho, and Walla Walla-based Dunham Cellars' Three Legged Red table wine, which was named in honor of the winemaker's three-legged dog.

A non-alcoholic drink Brown says she's also planning to add to Barks & Beans' menu soon is root beer made by Fresno, Calif.-based Bulldog Brewing Co.

"We're trying to stay with the dog theme," she says.

To further complement the business's pet theme, artwork of dogs and cats—some of which is for sale—adorns the walls of Barks & Beans' dining area, including oil paintings that a local artist creates based on photos of people's pets.

For those who do want to wash their own dog, rubber aprons are provided to keep their clothes from getting drenched when their pup decides to give its wet fur a good shake, Brown says.

If dog owners don't want to wash their own pet, Villareal says customers can opt to have a groomer wash the animal while they wait and have an espresso drink or a sandwich on the business's food side. That costs $20 and is one of the business's more popular services, he says.

"A lot of people take advantage of that these days, and they feel that the extra $8 is worth it to them to not do it themselves," Brown says.

Barks & Beans also offers scheduled grooming appointments that include a wash, dry, brush, trim, and nail clip and are done by the business's employees who are licensed dog groomers, Villareal says.

Prices for a grooming session vary depending on the size and temperament of the dog, but generally they're $29 for a small dog, $39 for a medium-sized dog, and $49 for a large dog.

The owners say they'll also offer discount prices on grooming sessions that take less of the groomers' time than is usual, or in cases where the owners adopted their dogs from a shelter or animal rescue service.

Barks & Beans also offers cat grooming services that start at $50, the owners say, although they add that the business has only had a few feline clients so far.

In terms of revenues, Barks & Beans has done moderately well since the beginning of this year, Villareal says. He says the business's sales have increased month over month, and that lately its food sales have risen quite a bit as word has gotten out about the business and people have come in to check things out and have lunch there. He says sales are split by about 60 percent from the dog grooming side and 40 percent from the food-and-drink side of the business.

"We are doing fairly well for being open not even a year," he says. "We have grooming appointments every day, walk-ins every day, and are selling more food."

In an effort to support other small businesses in the Inland Northwest, Brown and Villareal say they purchase as much of their supplies as they can from local wholesalers, including coffee beans from Spokane-based Craven's Coffee Co. Brown adds that they get bread for their menu's sandwiches from the Alpine Delicatessen, on east Third Avenue.

The dog soaps and cleaners also are made by a Washington state-based business, they say.

Aside from the deli food and drinks sold there, Barks & Beans also has a small retail selection that includes dog accessories, treats, and a variety of locally-made gift items, Brown says.

"We would like to expand on that a bit more, and one of our groomers here knows some distributors and helps us find pet-related things to sell," she says.

In the future, Brown and Villareal say they hope to expand their business by possibly offering doggie daycare services, but say that such a move also would be dependent on getting a bigger space to run their operations.

"It would be fun to have a bigger place with an outdoor area for the dogs," Villareal says. "If people have to work they could have their dogs out and about where they had a place to play ... or people could take their food and beer out and watch their dogs play."

Brown adds that they've already received customer inquiries on the opening of a second location in Spokane Valley, although nothing yet has been decided for such an expansion. For now, she says they're focusing on expanding services at the business's sole storefront.