Engineering Happiness

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It may not suit the taste of all Rowan Engineering grads but for Christina Van Osten, a nice long coffee break feels great right about now.

Van Osten, a 2000 alumna with a degree in civil and environmental engineering, conducted site analyses for several years after graduating, detailing hazardous site conditions across the U.S.

While she liked the work, Van Osten answered another calling about five years ago that she found a bit more, well, grounded. With her husband Randy, a part-time pastor at Oaklyn Baptist Church, she opened a coffee shop.

"Our original mission was to be a community center coffee shop and it still is," said Van Osten, 30.

After first establishing the Treehouse Coffee Shop in her hometown of Collingswood in Camden County, the couple moved their business last year to neighboring Audubon (120 W. Merchant Street) where its quirky comfort caught on quick.

In addition to an array of fresh coffee drinks and specialty teas, the shop features lattes, summer shakes and a light lunch menu.

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The shop's open layout features hardwood floors, book-lined windows and stacks of books and magazines. Centered among an eclectic mix of tables is a small plastic playpen for toddlers. And, at the coffee bar, a hand-lettered sign declares, "All you need is love."

"We wanted a place where people can come and feel love and be comfortable," Van Osten said. "Our goal is not to be a multi-billion dollar company. Our goal is to serve people and pay our bills."

Serving double duty as community center and coffeehouse, the shop hosts movie nights, bridal showers, even bible readings.

Though for the time being she's not a full time engineer, Van Osten said her Rowan education serves her everyday.

"Ironically, our freshmen design project was for an environmentally friendly coffee brewer - one that uses less energy, produces less waste and makes really good coffee," she said. "Well, I'm not designing and building our coffee brewers but I might take one apart and fix it."

Van Osten said she can envision returning to engineering full time but for now is plenty busy as an entrepreneur. She and Randy have four part-time employees to supervise as well as baby Matteo, their 18-month-old son.

"Running a coffee shop is a lot more work than people think," she said. "It's definitely not sitting around sipping coffee with your friends."

Randy Van Osten, whose work as an assistant pastor puts him in contact with area youth, said the coffee shop, Audubon's first, gives them a place to go.

"It's great to give them an outlet," he said. "What's even nicer is people of all ages are coming in."