Fitger’s Business Complex Reopens

DULUTH, Minn.– As businesses continue to reopen, one historic Duluth landmark is closed no more.

Businesses in the Fitger’s Complex in downtown Duluth have started opening up this week as they try to open up and keep their customers safe.

“There’s just something about the feel of being in the store,” said Jennifer Jubenville, Manager at The Bookstore at Fitger’s.

While not every store has officially reopened, stores like The Bookstore at Fitger’s were ready to go and so were their customers. The busy day started when the store had someone waiting at the door for them to open up Monday morning.

Jubenville’s glad people can come in and take a look inside the store once again.

“People that love books love to come into a bookstore and browse and look around and see what it is that jumps out at them,” said Jubenville.

Like most stores, the bookstore has added barriers and hand sanitizer stations. Along with those, they are actively cleaning store shelves and asking employees to routinely use hand sanitizer.

They are also asking customers to put the books they touch on one of their resting shelves where they will sit for 48 hours so the books won’t be contaminated. Something that Jubenville says not every store does.

“The big box stores, they aren’t worried about books being in rotation that have been handled,” said Jubenville. “We’re doing it out of an abundance of caution and we just feel like that’s the safe thing to do.”

At Lotus on the Lake clothing store, all customers are required to wear a mask and sanitize their hands before going into the store. They sell masks and even offer free ones outside the store at their hand sanitizer station.

Owner Kelly Yetter says she spent all last week sanitizing the store to get it cleaned and ready. She’s also steaming clothes and letting them sit for over six hours after someone has tried it on.

“It’s part of the process,” said Yetter. “Of course, none of us expected it and it’s not fun but we have to do it in order to keep everyone safe and now it’s kind of normal just to see everyone with a mask on. Now we can match our masks with our outfits.”

The stores added that although that the new regulations are a lot to take on, they are well worth it to keep customers safe.