It’s a sunny Saturday morning in downtown Santa Barbara. There are tourists everywhere. Some of them slip into a new clothing store in the 800 block of State Street. It sells boutique clothing with Santa Barbara themes. The store is unique, but its backstory is even more interesting.
It was created by a woman trying to recover from one of the greatest disasters in Hawaii’s history
Last August, Maui experienced wildfires that killed over 100 people and destroyed over 2,200 buildings. Among the buildings destroyed was Tilly Timm’s, Heidi Oberg’s Maui clothing store.
“We couldn’t open because the power was out everywhere and the winds were so terrible,” Oberg said. “People were told to get to safety. None of my employees went into the store. By early evening, I was in California and kept in touch with everyone. They said everything was under control, but fires were raging inland. Eight hours later, I woke up and the city was destroyed.”
Oberg’s adult son and teenage daughter were safe, as were her five employees. But the business that the single mother had put her heart and soul into and spent 14 years building was destroyed.
“I looked at my phone and it just exploded and showed pictures … Front Street (where her business was located) and smoke approaching,” Oberg said. “I knew it was gone.”
It took months before they could even see what was left of the store. What they found was disheartening.
“The contamination was so bad that I couldn’t see my store again until the end of May,” Oberg said. “It was just a pile of rubble. I found my cash register drawer with charred bills. If you touch them, they disintegrate.”
Worse still, Oberg didn’t have the right insurance. She had all kinds of insurance, but because her business had sprinkler systems and the bushfire risk was considered low, she had no fire insurance.
The municipality decided that no new businesses could be built in the port area.
Oberg knew she had to do something, so she chose a place she had visited before: Santa Barbara. The place looked good online, had nice weather and a strong tourism industry like the one Maui had. A real estate agent helped her find the location on State Street where her business is now located.
She received a disaster loan from the Small Business Administration, risking her house as collateral, and admits she’s scared.
“Absolutely horrible,” Oberg said. “I had to put up my house as collateral. Everything I’ve worked for all these years was at stake to make this move. There were many, many, many sleepless nights.”
Oberg remodeled the State Street space and worked with her supplier to create high-quality clothing with Santa Barbara motifs. Tilly Timms Santa Barbara opened seven weeks ago.
She said the community is great and business has been good so far.
The single mother has a huge balancing act to manage. She has a new store to run. Her 13-year-old daughter is staying in Hawaii because the teenager wanted to finish high school there. Her elderly father is in her native Canada, so she is there often to care for him. Fortunately, Oberg’s 35-year-old son has moved to Santa Barbara to help in the store. But she is constantly traveling between the three places.
Despite everything that has happened, Oberg is optimistic about the future. “We have put our heart and soul into this. If we don’t succeed, I can walk away knowing that I did everything in my power to be successful.”
