Jess Lourey visits Fergus Falls bookstore on Verdant Cage tour

Victor Lundeen Company turned its downtown Fergus Falls storefront into a literary stop on May 14, when Minnesota author Jess Lourey came in at 11 a.m. for a signing tied to her “The Verdant Cage” tour. The visit drew readers to a business that has long done more than sell books, giving the shop another reason to pull foot traffic into the heart of downtown Fergus Falls.

Lourey was joined by fellow authors Erica Ruth Neubauer and Shannon Baker, adding three writers to one local stop on a tour that also made Minnesota appearances in New Ulm, Hopkins, Big Lake, Anoka and Stillwater around the same dates. Her newest book, The Verdant Cage, was released April 7, 2026 and is being described as a dystopian young adult thriller and the first book in the Verdant series.

For Victor Lundeen Company, the event fit a business that has been tied to Fergus Falls for 112 years. The company dates to 1914, when founder Victor Lundeen bought a print shop in Fargo and brought the equipment to Fergus Falls by train. He was 15 years old at the time. The business is still family-owned and operated by the founder’s son and grandson.

That history has helped make the store a steady presence in downtown Fergus Falls, where it now operates as a print shop and retail store with a book and gift shop, office supplies, a digital copy center, bindery and printing services. A signing like Lourey’s gives that mix of offerings a public face, bringing in readers who may come for the author event and leave with books, gifts or other purchases.

Lourey’s appearance also underscored the pull of an author with a broad Minnesota following. Her official bio identifies her as a New York Times bestselling author and a Minnesota Book Award winner, along with being a two-time Edgar Award nominee, Anthony Award winner and ITW Thriller Award winner. She has surpassed a million readers, a scale that helps explain why a stop in Fergus Falls can matter for both the store and the downtown businesses around it.

For Victor Lundeen Company, the Lourey event showed how an independent bookstore can function as both a cultural destination and a local retail engine, bringing readers into a family business that has helped anchor Fergus Falls since 1914.