Built on Love, Legacy & Detroit: Inside Elmars Furs With Mr. and Mrs. Ellis
Fashion businesses are often born from sketches, mood boards, or lifelong dreams of designing clothes. For Mr. and Mrs. Ellis, the road to Elmars Furs looked nothing like that. Before becoming owners, the couple had already spent decades building careers outside of fashion while simultaneously developing their own relationships to style. Mrs. Ellis spent nearly 30 years working in media, while Mr. Ellis built a career in operations and facilities. Owning a fur business wasn't necessarily part of either plan.
Yet fashion had always existed somewhere in the background. Mrs. Ellis remembers growing up surrounded by fashionable parents, a grandmother, and an aunt who made style feel like a natural part of everyday life. Mr. Ellis remembers church as one of his earliest introductions to dressing well—a place where putting on your best wasn't just tradition, but part of the culture. Years later, those influences would unexpectedly collide with entrepreneurship, marriage, and an opportunity that neither could have predicted.
August 19th. Written by Ryan Packer
Before They Were Owners, They Were Customers
Long before their names were attached to Elmars Furs as owners, Mr. and Mrs. Ellis knew the business from the other side of the counter. Mr. Ellis had been shopping there for roughly 27 to 28 years, while Mrs. Ellis had been a customer for more than two decades. Most of the fur coats they owned had come from the very store they would eventually acquire.
The transition happened quickly. Mrs. Ellis describes the opportunity as "God's direction," while Mr. Ellis admits that although he had previously imagined himself entering fashion, his vision involved custom men's suits—not fur. Just months before taking ownership, neither seriously pictured themselves running Elmars Furs. What began as a familiar place to shop suddenly became something they were responsible for carrying forward.
Taking Over History Without Being Trapped by It
Buying an established business brings an advantage that a startup doesn't have: history. But history can also become one of the greatest challenges. The Ellises quickly discovered that customers and employees accustomed to the old way of doing things weren't always immediately receptive to change. Taking ownership meant respecting what Elmars Furs had already built without becoming afraid to make the business their own.
That balance can now be seen directly in the product. Traditional fur silhouettes remain part of the Elmars identity, but Mrs. Ellis has helped introduce contemporary details, including drawstring waists that reshape classic women's coats into something more modern. Rather than choosing between heritage and trend, their approach combines them. The foundation stays recognizable while the presentation continues moving forward.
Detroit Is Starting to Notice
There was a particular moment when Mr. Ellis realized Elmars Furs was becoming bigger than the store itself. At the Detroit Auto Show Charity Preview, strangers recognized the couple from their social media presence and commercials. Mrs. Ellis has experienced the same phenomenon elsewhere—even something as simple as attending a Pistons game can now result in someone recognizing them.
That visibility speaks to something larger happening around the brand. Elmars isn't simply selling fur; it's becoming increasingly connected to Detroit's broader fashion and cultural identity. One collaboration came through Cedric, who wanted a fur to represent Detroit while attending Fashion Week. The partnership made sense because, as Mr. Ellis put it during our conversation, "fur coats are Detroit." It's a simple statement, but one that captures the relationship between fur and a city that has long treated the garment as more than protection from cold weather. In Detroit, fur can be status, personality, tradition, and self-expression all at once.
Marriage, Business and Knowing When to Go Home
Running a company with your spouse means there isn't always a clean line between work and home. The Ellises live together, work together, brainstorm together, and make decisions together. Their solution has been surprisingly straightforward: sometimes they need to get away from each other.
During the summer, Mrs. Ellis often arrives early to prepare the store, handle business responsibilities, and create the photos and videos seen across Elmars' social platforms. When Mr. Ellis arrives, she may leave, giving both of them individual space. Their humor makes it obvious that the system works. Asked how they settle disagreements, Mr. Ellis joked that he's always right. Mrs. Ellis had another strategy: "I let him be right until he realizes he's wrong." Beneath the joke is something essential to their partnership—they know how to be husband and wife without allowing every business disagreement to become a relationship disagreement.
More Than Something Off the Rack
For the Ellises, understanding fur also means understanding craftsmanship and longevity. An exceptional garment isn't defined by one characteristic. The skin, color, construction, silhouette, and customer's personal taste all contribute to the finished piece. Recently, Elmars Furs pushed that idea further by hosting its first custom event, allowing customers to select their fur, color, and style and essentially participate in building their own coat.
That level of personalization challenges the increasingly disposable nature of clothing. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis view fur as an investment that requires care after purchase. Properly maintained, they explain, a fur can last 30 or 40 years. Their philosophy isn't simply about making a sale and watching a customer walk out the door. It's about selling something that can remain in a wardrobe for decades—and potentially become part of someone else's story later.
The Real Goal Is Legacy
Ask the Ellises their favorite part of building Elmars Furs together and the answer comes quickly: legacy. For Mr. Ellis, success isn't limited to revenue, recognition, or another location. It's knowing that what they're building today can eventually belong to their children and their children's children.
And they're nowhere near finished. The vision for Elmars Furs includes another location within the next few years, alongside expansion into an area Mr. Ellis has dreamed about for years: custom men's suits. They also see opportunities for additional custom womenswear. What started as an unexpected turn in their lives is slowly becoming the fashion business neither of them originally knew they would build.
That may be what makes the Elmars story so compelling. Mr. and Mrs. Ellis didn't spend their entire lives preparing to become fur-store owners. They were customers. They were husband and wife. They had careers and plans that existed completely outside of Elmars. Then an opportunity appeared, and they chose to step into it together.
Their advice to other couples considering the same path reflects everything they've learned since: make sure the foundation is firm. Business can be discussed tomorrow. The relationship still has to exist when the store closes, the customers leave, and the workday ends.
Even if Mr. Ellis occasionally has an idea at two in the morning.
Mrs. Ellis already has the solution for that too: "Text me or email it to me."