Fay Furniture is a unique business featuring a full-service pawnshop and furniture store primarily focused on selling new furniture. Revenue has increased year over year, according to Michelle Lapin who took over the day-to-day operations in 2017.
Fay Furniture was opened in 1948 by Louis Stebelman and named after his wife, Fay. In the early 1950s, his son-in-law, Charles Lapin, took over the business and built it up by mainly selling used furniture and appliances. In the early 1970s, Charles’ son, Steve Lapin, started working at the business. In 1980 Steve Lapin added the pawnshop to the front of the furniture store. Now 71, he has taken a more passive role, focusing on retirement.
Michelle, 46, holds a Bachelor’s Degree in political science and English from the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and a Diamond Grading Lab Certificate from GIA. “I grew up coming to Fay Furniture often and working in the pawnshop on Saturdays while I was in high school,” she shares. “Before coming to work at Fay Furniture around age 30, I had spent time elsewhere in the furniture business and procuring close-out merchandise. I am very fortunate to enjoy what I do and am very proud to be the fourth generation of my family running Fay Furniture. 2022 is our 74th year in business.
Michelle is determined to keep the business at the cutting edge and fresh. “From 2020-2021, I embarked on remodeling our showcase display area, pawn counter, and the exterior of our building. I covered the showcase display area in paneling that looks like red brick and had an airbrush artist do a mural with the store name for a new urban look. I had the exterior of our building painted a medium gray color except for one second-story section of brick that was still in original condition that I did not have the heart to cover up,” she shares.
“I had six 40-foot wide yellow signs installed that read ‘Fay Furniture & Pawn.’ I also had four signs installed that read ‘Cash for Gold.’ All are visible from all four sides of our building, including the backside which is completely visible from a major highway! I painted our front door yellow, marked it with a clear matching yellow entrance sign, and replaced a flange sign on the front of the building. The old flange sign had been hanging up since the 1920s, and we had to have a bobcat come to take it down because it was so heavy!
“My latest project that I completed in January of 2022 was having our website, fayfurniture.com, updated. My favorite photo on the website is the one that shows our proximity to the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. We are just about 5 minutes away across the river in Illinois.
“We have about 6-8 employees, including Gerald Crenshaw, Jerri Allen, and Ron Griffin. Every day we have people walk in who have been pawning with us for 40 years, as well as people who have never been in the store before. I enjoy people who tell me stories about how nice my grandfather or my father was to them in the past. We always attempt to loan more on items than any other pawn shop in the area. We want the loans. We want our customers to redeem the merchandise, and we want to make our revenue on the interest and the repeat business. When merchandise does end up in our possession, we price it fairly and move it quickly. We believe in being kind to our customers and always treating people with kindness and respect.
To learn more Fay furniture please visit fayfurniture.com or call (618) 271-8200.
