Leo’s Vintage, a local second-hand clothing store in downtown Elgin, has recently celebrated its one year anniversary at 15 N State Street this past November, 2025. 

Owned by a former student of ECC and longtime resident of Elgin, Leo Navarro is a young entrepreneur who has been promoting sustainability and creativity in the downtown area of Elgin for over a year now. 

“Having young entrepreneurs is encouraging in this community,” said Jennifer Fukala, Executive Director of the Downtown Neighborhood Association. “Our demographics show that Elgin is predominantly younger, so businesses like Leo’s Vintage help us work toward keeping Elgin’s shopping experience up-to-date for the next generation of shoppers and residents.”

The Downtown Neighborhood Association works to create a thriving downtown by growing retail in the downtown Elgin area. 

“Everyone has their own audience,” said Fukala. “Having a common area where those people can come together and share a communal experience is a goal we want to work towards.”

From selling, buying and trading vintage clothes, Leo’s Vintage is part of a fast growing and renewable fashion scene. Developed by young entrepreneurs, they were looking to fight against fast-fashion and those who believe that shopping for clothes can be a fun experience that helps better connect people to their community. 

“I wanted to bring something new,” Navarro said. “The suburbs don’t usually see things like this (Vintage resale stores), except in the city. I wanted to give people something new to do on the weekend in the suburbs I grew up in and love so much.”  

As a businessman and a fan of fashion, Navarro never really understood the criticism that vintage resellers would receive for their business and passion.  

“I’ve always thought it was kind of silly [the criticism]. People always say we’re stealing clothes from others, when in reality a person will only ever see less than five percent of the clothes that are available in the world before the majority of them are thrown away or ruined.” said Navarro. “With such limited access to clothing, we’re just trying to keep the fashion around so that others can actually benefit from their existence.”

Navarro started his business by attending and hosting social vending events in and around the Elgin area, where he and many other vendors had their first chance to showcase their collections to the public. 

“I did like 8 or 9 events before the opening of the store,” Navarro recalls. “I had dozens of vendors come out to an old indoor skate park for a couple events…But my biggest event was where I worked with the Community Events Committee of East Dundee to help host a Mexican Heritage event in Carpentersville. We had like seventy five vendors and thousands of people come out. It was great.”

After finding inspiration from YouTube channels and encouragement from close friends, Navarro started buying and selling what he could. Going to school to showcase great finds, he was able to secure from visits to local garage sales and other second hand sellers, making some of his very first sales circa 2020, as a junior in high school. 

“I was just having fun at first, really. I had seen channels like ‘Paul Canto’ and ‘Thrift Row’, going to places like garage sales and thrift stores to find some awesome pieces, and couldn’t fight the thought of how ‘I could do that.’…and eventually, I had enough that I could show up to school with a backpack full of random finds to show and sell to my friends.” 

In high school, Navarro was a dedicated student athlete and soccer player, but would go on to suffer a catastrophic leg injury, tearing his Achilles-Tendon during his senior year season, ending his soccer career. 

“When we confirmed it was a tear, it was tragic. But, that event opened up another door…At that point, I was still very interested in pursuing vintage resale, and honestly thought this would be a great opportunity to finally give it a real shot.”  

From his time as a student athlete, Navarro was able to gain many skills and experiences which he says have greatly aided in his entrepreneurial endeavours. 

“Communication has played such a key role honestly,” Navarro said. “On the field, if you can’t communicate, you can’t score, let alone win a game. Working with others is how you make the dream a reality, and I’d say that still applies today.”  

Reflecting on the success of his first year in business, Navarro recalls having to take a break from hosting the events that gave him his start, However, Navarro can’t wait to host more events in the suburbs he feels so connected to.

“I definitely want to get back on track with hosting those events in the year of 2026. I wanted to make sure the store was in a good place before I stretched myself out too thin, but I miss connecting with the community and bringing something fun for those people to do.”

Leo’s Vintage is open on Wednesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays from 12pm-7pm, and on Sundays from 12pm-6pm.