Today we’d like to introduce you to Kelly Barker & Karen Lewis.
Hi Kelly & Karen, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
We were both stay at home moms wanting to run our own businesses. We met at church when we were both in choir and then found out we lived in the same neighborhood.
Burnsville was just trying to revitalize an older area of town and they built a town square area and called it The Heart of the City. Ficus & Fig was one of the first businesses to start up in the new area.
The store has definitely evolved over the years. We used to sell furniture and had actual room vignettes set up throughout the store (I.e. bedroom, dining room) and now we use every inch of the 3000 sq ft space to fit in all the fun products we find!
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
There have been some growing pains along the way but we’ve always managed to meet or exceed our goals. We have survived a few economic downturns and of course the Covid shutdown was probably the most painful. We are so grateful for all the support we received during that time and when we ultimately decided to open our doors again, we were overwhelmed by the positive response and the number of people who made it a point to come out and show their support was honestly just so amazing and humbling and we couldn’t be more grateful. Our community always shows up for us and has kept us going for all these years.
Great, so let’s talk business. Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Ficus & Fig is a home decor and gift boutique. We specialize in unique gifts for all occasions and our store is filled with home decor, lamps and wall art that you won’t find in the big box stores. We have candles, body products, kitchen tools/linens, puzzles, baby clothes, and so much more and carry the popular lines like Geometry, The Thymes, Nora Fleming, Voluspa and many others.
We celebrated our 20th anniversary in October of 2024 and we consider ourselves a staple of the Burnsville community.
We have many loyal customers who have been shopping here since we opened! We pride ourselves on being able to offer the kind of customer service that is often hard to find and we consider so many of our customers friends! We have a staff of exceptional ladies who are also committed to our success and they do an amazing job of carrying out our vision on a daily basis. We have been told many times “this must be a fun place to work” after hearing all the shenanigans of our staff interacting. And yes, we are fun!
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
As co-owners, we are kind of an “opposites attract” pair! Ha!
Karen grew up in Bloomington, MN and attended a very large high school. I have always been involved in music, singing in choir and playing in band and orchestras. Church was also a large part of our family growing up. I have always been much more reserved (thus the opposites attract statement).
Kelly grew up in a small rural town in North Dakota. Fun fact- I have a twin sister! I was very outgoing, worked a job since I was a freshman in HS and played basketball and track in high school. I’m a definite “people person” and have always loved making connections with people. I was always involved in my church and I love to sing so was in choir etc (altos rule 😄). I was also voted class clown my senior year so…..
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Www.ficusandfig.com
- Instagram: https://Www.Instagram.com/Ficusandfig
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ficusandfig
