Fayetteville artist's Lemon Bear, known worldwide, could be the next Hello Kitty

A Fayetteville artist dreamt up an adorable cast of characters — five friendly bears, each with their own look and personality — and turned the idea into a six-figure business.

Marta Mickelsen owns and operates Fujibee, a Tiktok- and Instagram-viral shop that stocks plushies, stationery, apparel and home goods, all centered around Lemon Bear, and his friends Teddy, Barb the Strawberry Bear, Lavender Bear and Peach Bear.

With a pastel palette, cutesy characters and child-like charm, Fujibee has a Japanese pop culture aesthetic known as Kawaii, shown in brands like Hello Kitty and Pokemon.

Mickelsen, 28, draws and designs every item from a dreamy pink office in the West Fayetteville home she shares with her husband, three cats and a dog.  She hopes her art gives people a sense of being carefree, even if just for a moment.

“It’s an idealized version of the world,” she said of Fujibee. “It’s a world where everything is happy all the time. You live near your friends and you garden and you bake bread.”

The shop has struck a chord with customers worldwide. Mickelsen said Fujibee is particularly popular in Southern California, New York City, Singapore, Korea, Japan and Germany.

Many customers collect the plushies, which have expanded to include more bears beyond the original five, seasonal releases and mix-and-match accessories. Recently, one fan cosplayed as Lemon Bear for an anime convention in New York, she said.

“There's a very hardcore group of fans,” the designer said.

How Fujibee got started

Mickelsen said she’s been drawing animals and writing stories about them since she was 8 years old.

“I have all sorts of stories saved to the family computer,” she said.

As a girl, she traced designs from sticker and school supply company Lisa Frank, a brand known for rainbow-colored animals popular in the ‘90s.

Later, Mickelsen briefly studied fine arts at Wake Forest Technical Community College, she said, and managed a chain of comic book stores in her hometown of Durham.

She said that working in a male-dominated industry pushed her to strike out on her own. She was especially determined to start her own business when she found out that her male subordinates were making more money than her while she was consistently denied raises, she said.

“My boss said, ‘Why don’t you just sell your little stickers?’ So that’s what I did,” the artist said.

Starting in 2018, she began to experiment with selling stickers and art prints of all different styles and subjects. She sold her wares online and at conventions and art festivals along the East Coast.

By the end of 2019, she focused on items inspired by Lemon Bear and his friends, and began working for herself full time, she said.

The business really took off when the pandemic hit in 2020, she said.

“People were spending their stimulus checks on cute stuff,” she joked. “I would have sleepless nights; I was so excited."

Since then, business has held steady, she said. Much of it comes from online orders, but Fujibee items are also sold in dozens of bookstores, gift shops and children’s hospitals across the nation.

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Early last year, Mickelsen moved from the Triangle to Fayetteville to be with her husband, Angel Manzueta, a Fort Liberty soldier.

"I am definitely very proud of my wife's hard work," Manzueta said. "Fujibee started out as an idea and has flourished into a passion that many people recognize."

What's next for Fujibee?

Mickelsen said she'd like to find a store where she can sell her items locally. The nearest place to shop Fujibee in person is Munjo Munjo, an art shop in Raleigh.

In late May, she plans to sell items at the Raleigh anime convention Animazement.

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Someday, she wants to do a pop-up shop in Los Angeles, and maybe hire a few employees. For now, she’s happy to keep living life and running her business by her own rules.

“I’m very into the idea of creating your ideal life, instead of the life that other people think you should have,” she said.

Taylor Shook writes about food, dining and culture for The Fayetteville Observer. She can be reached at tshook@gannett.com or on Facebook. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Fayetteville artist Marta Mickelsen owns viral plushie shop Fujibee