DETROIT LAKES, MN (KDLM) – Uni Fegley never thought she’d be the owner of a business in downtown Detroit Lakes but, after purchasing Lit Décor and Gifts from Steve and Lauren Zima last November, here she is.
“It feels natural,” says Fegley. “But I’ll admit that I’ve been more awake at nights than I’ve ever been.”
Fegley, who also owns Universal Interiors, runs the store with her husband, John, and the help of their three children.
“It is a family affair. The girls are super great with the computer stuff that I’m not great with. John oversees the business side since he’s owned a business (Fegley Services) since we’ve been together…25 years. Our son, Sam, is installing furniture and putting furniture together.”
Fegley is no stranger to the Lit building. Nearly a decade ago, she was an employee at The Nines, owned by the Zimas.
“It’s a really cool story,” says Fegley. “So I worked for Steve and Lauren Zima at The Nines when they opened their original store downtown. (The original store is now our warehouse). I was shopping there one day and I noticed that Lauren had her hands full. Clothes needed folding, there were hangers all over the store. I had just dropped off the kids at school and was still in my pajamas. But I walked up to her…I don’t know her and she doesn’t know me…and I told her ‘I think you could use me here.’ And she took a chance and hired me on the spot. I would drop the kids off at school, work until three and pick them up. Just three days a week. And that opened the door to our relationship with the Zima family.
The Nines became a very successful business and eventually bought the old restaurant across the street and moved into the bigger location. Originally, Lauren and I had talked about creating a store like Lit together, but the timing of it was just off. I went my own way to chase my décor dreams with Universal Interiors. Fast forward 10 years…John and I went out for supper and ran into Steve and Lauren for the first time in years. It was so nice catching up.
The next day, Steve called John to talk some businesses. The Zimas now have a store in Fargo and are very busy people. Steve said ‘Lit is not for sale, but if you guys want to buy the store from us we will sell it to you. That’s the only way it’s for sale,’ I didn’t think it was going to happen. But it was a crazy seamless thing. We talked to the bank, our accountant…everybody was so excited about it. We felt silly not to do this. We bought the store and hit the ground running for the holidays. It’s been equal parts exciting and terrifying…it’s crazy that we’re even here.”
In addition to the gifts and décor side of Lit, John and Uni are building a Universal Interiors office next door to Lit that they hope to open in the next handful of weeks.
“We’re going to be a multi-faceted company offering both retail and interior design,” said Fegley. “Universal Interiors is a brand that I’ve been building since I left The Nines a couple of years. The next step of the business is wrapping our heads around this, and then arrange the store where half of it is gifts, the other half is décor, and at the same time work with clients with interior design and decorating needs. Remodeling projects or new builds.”
Fegley says the amount of support that her family has gotten during the business purchase has been incredible, specifically from other small business owners in town.
“There is a lot of great comradery with downtown businesses that have the same clientele as we do: Alicia and Carol at Beautiful Junque, Skye at Allure, Tracy at Vintage and Vogue, Jessica at JQ, Barb at Mainstream Boutique…” says Fegley. “It is really special to have that kind of support. And from the Zimas too. They have been very gracious to us during this life transition, answering any questions that we have and making sure we have everything we need to be successful here.”
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