Evanston small-business owner offers her generosity to the community

Surrounded by handcrafted gifts and ornate trinkets, 46-year-old small business owner Jaime Leonardi stands behind the register with a warm smile and comforting presence.

This is how Leonardi greets customers when they walk into her Evanston store Stumble & Relish, a name celebrating how sometimes the items you relish most are the ones you happen to stumble upon.

“Our love language is to give gifts to people and find the perfect thing,” said Leonardi. The shop’s wares include handmade jewelry, scented candles and throw pillows.

Throughout Leonardi’s former career as a product designer, she conducted research on market trends which led to her love of handcrafted goods.  She remembers thinking, “I’m working eighty hours a week for someone else. I should just do this for myself.”

Leonardi quit her office job, and in 2013, she opened Stumble & Relish, combining her bucket list item of owning a small business and her love for the handmade.

Since the store opened, Leonardi has welcomed an average of 200 customers per week. She also leads efforts to bring the community together, such as starting a yearly Evanston Wine Walk. Attendants pay for tickets and try wine samples provided by participating businesses, and all proceeds go towards a local charity.

Leonardi is “an anchor” for the neighborhood that people can depend on, according to Katherine Gotsick, the executive director of the Main-Dempster district where Leonardi’s store resides.

“She is foundationally good and kind,” she said.

When Gotsick was first hired as executive director, Leonardi was “incredibly supportive” of her transition and helped her become acquainted with the neighborhood. “They trusted Jaime, so they trusted me if she introduced me to them,” Gotsick said.

Leonardi also shows consistent support for local PTAs, non-profits and small artists.

“She is constantly uplifting people and putting you in contact with other people that might be good for your business,” said Amber Favorite, one of Leonardi’s close friends and an artist who sells her letterpress cards in the store.

Favorite adds, “She has such a generous heart and spirit.” When neighborhood PTAs or charities ask for her support, Leonardi offers gift certificates for raffle items and hosts events to donate a portion of her sales.

Rogers Park resident Sonja Nelson, who sells her hand-embroidered artwork at Stumble & Relish, said Leonardi actively looks for opportunities to highlight her work in the store.

“She is always looking to make the store better and the community better,” said Nelson, who is also a Stumble & Relish employee.

Leonardi and her mother, Paulette, initially started the business together. Her mother later retired in 2019.  Leonardi said they chose Evanston because it had the “best vibe” and she felt like people would support them.

The shop is located at 1312 Chicago Ave. “It just seemed like a good fit, and this thoroughfare of Chicago Avenue gets so many people,” she said.

When Leonardi first opened her store, Favorite said, she felt very excited about offering the neighborhood a place to shop “handmade products and local artists.”

“She is truly a go-getter and she doesn’t let other people stop her or slow her down,” Favorite said. She added that the moment Leonardi found the space, everyone was pitching in to help her set up the store and it was a really exciting time.

The two staples of the store are jewelry pieces and greeting cards, and Leonardi said the cards are her favorite item to order. Many of them are from local artists in the Chicago area and are created using the letterpress printing technique, which requires each one to be individually printed.

“I send cards to my mother every couple of days, and I’ve been buying cards there for years,” said Gotsick, who lives in Andersonville.

The storefront  is a welcoming and warm environment for customers. “It’s bright and colorful, and everyone is willing to help you if you need it,” Favorite said.

Jennifer Baker, another Stumble & Relish employee, said that the store makes customers feel like they have “stumbled across something unique and special.”

The shop is lined wall-to-wall with shelves and racks of any gift item imaginable. Leonardi also changes her window front decorations periodically and creates a completely new design from scratch, like her most recent holiday-themed decor featuring a Christmas tree and festive lights. She said it’s one of the things that draws people in.

Leonardi has also developed personal relationships with many of her customers. Parents of Northwestern students often visit the shop on their trips to Evanston.

“There are parents that I know for four years, and then when their student graduates, they come in to say goodbye to me,” she said.