Coming soon to southwest Springfield: Travellers House Coffee

The motto of Travellers House Coffee & Tea — due to open in April at 2151 W. Republic Road — is "so, where is life taking you?"

Owner Greg Venturella said he and his family are inveterate travelers, hence their shop's name. It's spelled U.K.-style, with two Ls, in a nod to the two Ls in "Venturella."

Twice — in the late 1990s and the late 2000s — the former general contractor from California lived in Romania with his wife, Cherie Venturella. During their first stint in Eastern Europe, they brought the kids along: Jonae, Nick and Andrew.

The family was on a mission with the Assemblies of God, working on Global Teen Challenge and other church projects in Eastern Europe.

After returning to Springfield in 2004, Venturella said he worked in Convoy of Hope's international department, assisting with the Springfield-based group's relief efforts during the Haiti earthquake of January 2010.

Now, the Venturellas have a new venture: a specialty coffee and loose-leaf tea company in southwest Springfield.

Their storefront — a 2,400-square foot space in a strip center owned by Republic Plaza RCM Properties LLC — is across a parking lot from a Starbucks-equipped Price Cutter location, but Venturella said he's selling something different.

"It’s not Starbucks, it’s specialty coffee," Venturella said. "We're bridging the gap between excellent craft and everyday. If somebody wants to put cream and sugar in their coffee, that's okay."

"We will parallel Hebrews Coffee or Caffebene," Venturella said, referring to two existing coffee shops along Republic Road.

Travellers House already sells 27 kinds of loose-leaf tea online, but when the store opens it will also have coffee, espresso, smoothies, scones, muffins, breakfast sandwiches, or "grab-and-go" sandwiches and salads for lunch.

Venturella said he wants to encourage what he calls "quick-serve," i.e. call-in orders brought to customers waiting in their cars. Venturella would also like to put in a drive-thru kiosk in the parking lot.

They also plan to have seating for 50, with a fireplace and a private meeting area, and eventually a patio deck similar to the one at Metropolitan Grill on East Battlefield.

Venturella is keen to build community in the neighborhood: "Over in this area, there's not much in the way of a place to sit down," he said.

"We just really want to create a place where people come and hang out and we get to know them. We want to get to know everyone's names."

If Travellers House has a "deep purpose," in Venturella's words, it's "business as mission," a term used by Christian business people who want their faith and work to intersect.

For example, Venturella plans a loyalty card system that would allow regular customers to donate a portion of transactions to local charities.

He'd also like to train young people in the Travellers House business model in hopes that they duplicate it overseas.

Citing a thriving black market during his time in Romania, Venturella said he would like to teach people in other countries "how to be in business in an ethical, responsible, accountable way."

"We believe we can eventually change the culture of an economy, or a country, by helping people understand that business doesn't have to be illegal."