Season 8 Episode 6:
Empowering Women and Supporting Communities: Becky Leffler, owner of Sweet Ivy, Journey from Real Estate to Fashion Retail
For 15 years, Becky has been saving her favorite brands and accessories thinking someday she would open a boutique.. When Becky retired from her career in commercial real estate, she began thinking about a “retirement job,” and thus Sweet Nautical was born in Prior Lake, MN in 2017. Becky laughed about the early notion of going into retail: “I understood the business aspect of running a company but knew nothing about retail. I got a quick education.”
Becky looks for brands that are “unique and classic…We try to shop for the whole look, from head to toe.” Becky’s other secret to choosing great brands is her daughters Abbey and Dana. “When I shop for products, my daughters are involved,” says Becky. And it’s the intersection between the three women’s differing tastes that is the true litmus test for a brand. “When the three of us attend markets, we bring back a classic, sophisticated look with a young twist on it.”
Becky opened the second Sweet Nautical in Excelsior, MN in 2019. Since then, Sweet Nautical has flourished into a store calledSweet Ivy, selling apparel and shoes, now located in the Galleria. Along with a store called Littles by Sweet Ivy, for babies and children.
“I just love when someone leaves my shop and feels good.” Becky tells the story of once paying a customer to try on a pair of jeans she wouldn’t have otherwise. Afterward, the customer “felt so happy and good about herself when she left, and I thought ‘that’s why I do this, that’s exactly why I do this.’" And that feeling hasn’t changed through the decades.
Our Non-Profit Spotlight: Hope Chest
We are so grateful for Becky’s sponsorship and were personal shoppers in the Sweet Ivy store prior to this sponsorship partnership. We truly love her stores.