It all started when Becky Leffler visited Florida when she was 18. Born in Duluth, Becky loved the lakes but had never visited the ocean until that fateful day. It was love at first sight. On that trip, casually wandering into a gift shop, Becky had an epiphany: this is what she wanted to do. “I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy as I was in that gift shop going, ‘Oh my gosh, I love the color, I love the smell, I love the fact the ocean is outside, and this is what I would like to do someday,” says Becky. And though the sea breeze doesn’t quite reach Lake Minnetonka, through Sweet Nautical Boutique, Becky finally got her own waterfront gift shop.
Sweet Nautical started as an idea long before the store. “For 15 years, I had been saving my favorite brands and accessories thinking someday I would open a boutique,” says Becky. When Becky retired from her career in commercial real estate, she began thinking about a “retirement job,” and thus Sweet Nautical was born. Becky opened her first store in Prior Lake in 2017, with a second opening in Excelsior in 2019. 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.”
Both stores sell women’s clothing, swimsuits, jewelry, and shoes, along with signs, towels and other nautical-themed goods. Becky looks for brands that are “unique and classic but with bold colors and prints. I really look for unique,” says Becky. “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 about eight months before the pandemic. “It was pretty devastating,” says Becky. With a store full of inventory and employees—including family—on payroll, it was a tough time. During those early Covid days, Becky decided to consolidate her stores into just the Excelsior location.
“Keeping Excelsior alive and well during that time was really difficult,” says Becky. But, after seeing the vacant building next door, Becky had an idea: a holiday-themed pop-up.
“I love Christmas, and I thought that might be a way to get people into my apparel store. I always say that Christmas saved my business,” says Becky. The Christmas pop-up was a hit, helping Sweet Nautical make a name for itself in Excelsior. “I think people were nostalgic, and staying at home, and family and the holiday meant a ton, so people just flocked to the store.” Due to the success of the holiday pop-up, Becky continued to use the previously vacant store to sell home décor and to repeat the Christmas theme each year.
Since then, Sweet Nautical has flourished. Becky created a website to show off new apparel in addition to social media channels at the insistence of her daughters. Sweet Nautical also opened a store in the Galleria called Sweet Ivy, selling apparel and shoes.
Sweet Nautical was a retirement job. “I’m still having fun doing it,” says Becky. “If I’m not having fun, I’m going home, so yeah, we have a lot of fun at my store.” Beyond the job, Sweet Nautical still calls back to the feeling Becky had in that Florida gift shop all those years ago. “I just love when someone leaves my shop and feels good.” Becky told me 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.
