From tech to leather, Island Lake store owner finds a niche

Susie Kleiner of Island Lake had worked in search engine optimization.

But she enjoyed much more than just working in a tech field that focused on the process of maximizing the number of visitors to a particular website by ensuring that the site appears high on the list of results returned by a search engine.

Instead, she also had a passion for art, such as painting and drawing and handcrafted items. She also enjoyed playing the drums. It was a contrast to technology.

Yet she managed to connect her artistic side with technology through connections and mentors that eventually led her to opening a custom-made leather store, Leathers 4U, in Antioch almost six years ago.

"I have many mentors, I believe firmly we can learn from everyone we meet," said Kleiner, 50.

It was a chance meeting that led to establishing her own business, she said.

In 2009, a man hired her to paint a mural of his car and while she was doing that, his computer crashed. She fixed the computer, and in the process, created a web presence for him. He then asked her help in re-establishing a charity that he and a friend had years before. He had been an avid biker and the charity helped fallen riders and their families.

While she helped him get donations for a charity event, they both realized there were few local shops that catered to the motorcycle community.

"He asked me to look into that, with my flexibility of time, mostly working from home, I was able to do that, and found only one in the area," Kleiner said.

The two decided to open Leathers 4U in 2010 and cater more to the biker community. Eventually she bought out her partner.

A turning point came for her when she found and used her 90-year-old father's vintage leather-making tools from the 1960s. It opened the door to more custom work at the store.

"My father built our family home in Lake Barrington, and it was the only home I ever knew," Kleiner said. "Buried in his crawl space was his leather-working tools in an old antique cabinet, I asked him if I could have them for the shop and the cabinet and the tools are used daily. Many folks are walking around with snaps and rivets from my father's archives."

Over the last two years, she invested more in her business, such as new machinery and hiring up to 5 employees, she said. She also expanded the focus.

"I no longer just cater to just the motorcycle industry, it has gone beyond that and is a creative kitchen for anything leather," she said.

<h3 class="briefHead">FastTrack</h3>

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• There's more to business than just the bottom line. We want to tell you about the people that make business work. Send news about people in business to akukec@dailyherald.com. Follow Anna Marie Kukec on LinkedIn and Facebook and as AMKukec on Twitter.