O Station Café a dream come true for owner

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This article was published 02/12/2019 (2158 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Coffee shops are my favourite stomping grounds. They are great places to dream, to write, to meet new people or just quiet spaces to sit and people-watch.  

O Station Café is such a place. I wandered in the coffee shop on one of my days off and was pleasantly surprised by the rich ambience, light and festive essence of the place.

All at once, I was in a coffee shop in Paris or Italy and it gave me a comforting feeling.  I sat facing Osborne rapid transit station and watch people hustling by back and forth and cars whizzing by in a steady stream. Most of all I got a kick watching our space age, new age Osborne bus station which camouflages an underground station above ground, if that makes any sense.

Once the current road works are complete this will be the perfect spot for a coffee shop. I had to ask the owner, Felicia Lundgren, a young woman in her 30s, perhaps, how she landed this ideal location.  

“I got lucky,” she said, vaguely adding “the developers were looking for the right fit and my proposal was a fit for them.”

Felicia did the interior design herself, looking at magazines and the internet to come up with the attractive, rustic chic look.

She had been out of the mainstream work world, during which time she catered her cakes, beautifully decorated for any occasion, but that was not enough.

“I needed to get back in the world of work, being out, meeting people,” she said.

O Station Cafe opened its doors in mid-July.

“It was a soft opening. I may have a grand opening when the construction is finished or at some point,” she said.

Felicia said her customer base is people walking by but hopes to cater to the tenants in the building once it is fully functional, “right now my customers are walk-in traffic, business owners in the area, and that keeps me pretty busy. I even have some regulars, which is nice,” she said

Married with a 10-year-old daughter, Felicia said her home-based business of speciality tiered cakes and working at her uncle’s restaurant triggered the idea that she could open her own shop.

“I learned all about the business from my uncle,” she said.

Her advice to anyone thinking of opening up a business is “that it does not happen overnight. There is always a wrench in your plan. You definitely need patience, a positive attitude, and drive. You have to be prepared to take it as it comes.”

O Station Café is a one-woman show.  

“I come from a big family and if I ever need help I know they will be there for me.  I feel safe as people come and go. I had one washroom situation where someone dropped in to use the washroom but I have signs up that washrooms are for my customers,” she said.

The shop is opens Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Free wi-fi is available and students are welcome to stay as long as they want.

What makes Felicia most happy is seeing her restaurant full of people.  

“I’m proud of myself. I had a vision and I have seen it through.”

Beatrice Watson is a community correspondent for Fort Rouge.