NORTHAMPTON — Downtown Northampton is about to get a whole lot sweeter.

Since the pandemic, the signature whimsy of the city’s Main Street has seemed unable to quite shake off all the economic anxieties wrought by COVID-19, with such worries only compounded by ambitious construction plans to remake downtown, set to begin next year.

There have been several high-profile closures, such as Ted’s Boot Shop and Greenfield Savings Bank’s Northampton branch in 2023. Several new businesses that have opened in the last two years, such as Plum and Mexcalito, have already thrown in the towel and closed their doors.

But now, Main Street is primed to welcome four new businesses, in what might be hopes for a resurgence of the local economy. What’s more particular is that all of the businesses offer similar wares: yogurt, acai bowls, desserts and coffee.

GoBerry ‘n Cream, Berry and Batter, The Tasty Dessert Bar and The Coffee Chat are all looking to open their doors in the coming month, with their respective owners placing the final touches on the interiors to make sure they’re ready for the pedestrian traffic the warmer months bring.

GoBerry ’n Cream

Northampton residents and frequent visitors may already be familiar with the GoBerry ’n Cream brand name, it once having been a staple of downtown before closing in 2022, though its other location in Amherst remained open.

Now under new ownership and in a new location, it’s set to open in the coming weeks, according to co-owner Aaron Buford.

“The first time going into the store, it just really struck me that as far as the business goes, it has a really good community feel to it and offered a good product,” said Buford, who acquired the business along with his business partner SiriNam Khalsa. “We thought there was a right time to reopen GoBerry in Northampton, and we wanted to really explore that possibility.”

The new location will be at 207 Main St., at the former Greenfield Savings Bank location. Customers can expect familiar flavors such as Nutella and strawberry, along with new flavors such as lemon cardamom, Buford said.

“With the traffic and support from the Amherst community, it felt like bringing it back in Northampton was a real possibility,” Buford said. “It’s really built our confidence and belief that the [Northampton] community is excited and ready for it to come back.”

Berry and Batter

A quick jaunt away from the GoBerry site is Berry and Batter, whose owner Fatema Abdoo said she was inspired by her backpacking travels around the world when forming her new businesses, which combines a signature European dessert, the Belgian waffle, with the popular açai bowl originating from the Amazon of South America.

“I spent a lot of time coming to Northampton when I was growing up,” said Abdoo, a native of Springfield. “I feel like Northampton is a really prime location in terms of space and people and movement and culture.”

Berry and Batter will offer several signature bowls and waffles, with waffles flavors like banana & Nutella (“The Noho”) and Oreo cookie with white chocolate (“The Dark Knight”). Açai bowls include toppings like strawberry, peanut butter and coconut.

Abdoo said she plans to open the business as soon as this week at 76 Main St., the site of the former NBO Tickets business. She settled on the location after other spaces available downtown she had expressed interest in were quickly being acquired before she could make a decision on them.

“It’s such a small space, so it’s kind of hard to fully execute the vision that I had for it,” Abdoo said. “But I think it’s a very quaint and creative spot.”

Tasty Dessert Bar

Waffles and açai bowls will also be on the menu at the Tasty Dessert Bar, which plans on opening this month at 141 Main St. at the site of the former Ben & Bill’s Chocolate Emporium.

Art Jannakas, the owner of the dessert bar, said it also plans on selling Greek yogurt, soft serve and hard ice cream and Greek-style donuts known as loukoumades.

“This has been a concept for me for a very long time,” Jannakas said. “We’re covering the full gamut of products that go well together.”

Originally from the Boston area, Jannakas has a long history of running various businesses, from CD stores to fashion accessories, in some of Boston’s biggest commercial areas such as Newbury Street and Downtown Crossing. Jannakas also ran a frozen yogurt food truck for several years before moving to western Massachusetts in 2013.

“Growing up in Boston most of my life, there were a lot of business hubs like Davis Square, Newbury Street, Harvard Square, Jamaica Plain,” Jannakas said. “In western Mass, the only real place like that is Northampton. I can see how much it’s struggling. It needs a good few anchor stores.”

The Coffee Chat

Another location hoping to become on of those anchor stores is just off Main Street at the site of the former Mimmo’s Pizza at 71 Pleasant St. There, Karim Iharratane is planning on opening up The Coffee Chat, a cafe planning to offer drinks like coffee, milk tea and boba.

“I came to visit Northampton last year and fell in love. I ended up moving here,” Iharratane, the operations manager at The Coffee Chat, said in an interview. “It’s a safe haven for everyone, it’s truly the Paradise City.”

Coffee is a relatively new experience for Iharratane, who said he went most of his life without drinking it. Nevertheless, he said that opening Coffee Chat constituted a “passion project” for him.

“I didn’t drink coffee until about three years ago,” Iharratane said. “But then I finally discovered good coffee, and I want to share that experience with as many people as I can.”

Iharratane said he expects to open Coffee Chat sometime by the end of the month, saying he only needed health inspection approval before being able to open for business.

Alexander MacDougall can be reached at amacdougall@gazettenet.com.