More Than Just a Store
Three couples stopped in at i Leoni on their way to dinner on a recent Saturday evening. They stopped in a few minutes before closing and made their way past the thoughtfully curated tables and shelves. “They were having a party in the back talking about coffee makers,” the store’s co-owner, Nancy Leoni, recounts with a laugh. “It was like this whole social scene going on.” It was just the type of home-focused chatter the Leonis have spent 20 years learning to cultivate—and made for a professional victory that happily kept them working a little bit late.
Nancy and her sister-in-law, Angela Leoni, opened their kitchen, decor and gift shop in 2004. Since then, “it has become more than just a place to buy things,” Angela says. “It’s a lifestyle store.” Indeed, from delightful displays inspired by the season to special events for the community or specific clientele, they have created a singular retail destination for home cooks and professional chefs alike. Within its 5,000 square feet, “you can find anything you need for cooking and entertaining,” Angela continues.
There’s cookware in myriad sizes, shapes and colors. (Le Creuset’s 7.25-quart Dutch oven in Flame, a glowing orange, is especially popular.) The dinnerware is crafted by artisans near (such as St. Helena’s Amanda Wright) and far (Casafina and Juliska pieces are made in Portugal). Luscious linens from Italy, France and India, in solids and patterns, entice shoppers. Equipment big (like Breville espresso machines and KitchenAid stand mixers) and small (see “the gadget wall”) also beckon.
Amid these covetable goods, a six-tier shelf holds some key inventory: Rancho Gordo heirloom beans.
In the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, sales of the products proved a boon. After the Napa-based specialty purveyor’s founder, Steve Sando, appeared on a national television program, “that’s when things exploded,” Angela recalls. “We kept selling out.” With their physical doors temporarily shuttered, i Leoni launched e-commerce in March 2020. People across the country discovered that they stocked the very in-demand legumes—and a whole lot more.
Now, having navigated a roller coaster of challenges, they will soon celebrate their 20th anniversary. While the store was born of necessity, the genesis of i Leoni—pronounced “ee-lee-OH-nee,” which translates to “the Leonis” in Italian—can be traced to Angela’s and Nancy’s upbringings.
Angela, the fifth of Angelo and Tressa Leoni’s 10 children, was raised on D Street in Petaluma. With eight cousins living next door, large family gatherings were the norm. “In many ways, it was always a party,” Angela says. Nancy points out that when Tressa cooked, it wasn’t for a handful of people, but routinely for up to a couple dozen. “She did that with such ease,” Nancy says. “It’s part of what we like to share in our store: how to open up your home and how to have the right things to make memories happen.”
The proper kitchen tools, she adds, can be life-changing: “What’s an essential piece of equipment? A good food processor. Yes, my grandmother was able to put together these fabulous dinners. But what she would have been able to do with the equipment today… I wish I could turn back the clock and have these for her.”
Like Angela, Nancy grew up surrounded by kin—in “a compound” where her great-grandparents, grandparents and cousins also resided. The Sacramento native met Angela’s older brother, Charles, when he was a student at Lincoln Law School. They married 44 years ago. In 1985, the couple moved to Petaluma, where Nancy became a self-described “volunteer extraordinaire,” ever-present at fundraisers. (i Leoni has auctioned dinner and wine pairings that benefit organizations such as the Petaluma Education Foundation.)
With longtime roots in Petaluma, Angela and Nancy can remember when Hardisty’s and Studio Gift Shop were regular haunts. When the former relocated to Santa Rosa in 1990 and the latter closed, that left a retail void in the community. “We got sick and tired of running out of town!” Angela quips of the impetus for their joint venture.
Both women had retail chops: Angela worked at Studio Gift Shop and Nancy at William Glen in Sacramento. Nancy’s résumé also includes stints as a culinary assistant for Jacques Pépin and a recipe tester for Thomas Keller’s Bouchon cookbook.
In 2003, the sisters-in-law enrolled in small-business courses and enlisted relatives to help develop a business plan. The following year, they leased 1,500 square feet on Kentucky Street.
When i Leoni debuted, Angela’s hours were limited because of her full-time job as a night shift nurse at UC San Francisco—where, after 43 years, she retired in 2020. “The person that kept this place going was Nancy,” Angela says. “She was full-time from day one.” And those were not 40-hour work weeks. “It was, like, 80 hours,“ Nancy confirms.
The duo soon outgrew their original storefront and, in 2009, moved to a 2,500-square-foot venue across the street. In 2022, they doubled their sales floor by assuming the adjacent space.
Chef Christian Caiazzo has shopped at i Leoni since moving to Petaluma about 10 years ago. “They seem to have an acute sense of quality mixed with design,” says the owner of Stellina Pronto and Stellina Alimentari, both located nearby, and Toby’s Coffee Bar in Point Reyes Station. “They must do extensive research, as many of their chosen products are as high a quality as any specialty chef-equipment store.”
Caiazzo initially popped in for the occasional knife or specialty pan for home—he bought his first ScanPan at the store, to cook eggs—and now comes in to see what’s new and what Stellina Pronto, his 3-year-old bakery and café, might need for an upcoming holiday to create particular cake and cookie shapes.
For the most part, i Leoni has carried the same type of merchandise since inception. A baby section, however, was introduced once grandchildren entered the picture. (Angela raised three children and has two grandkids, and Nancy has four kids and six grandkids.)
Although Angela and Nancy helm the store, it has always been a broader family affair, spanning three generations. In the beginning, Angela’s mother unboxed and priced products. Nancy’s parents, Raymond and Margaret Jacobs, drove their RV from Sacramento to lend a hand with her youngest child, who was then in high school.
All of Angela’s and Nancy’s children have contributed over the years. Angela’s son, Jim, is currently a part-time presence, handling shipping and receiving. Nancy’s architect daughter, Valentina, is pitching in with the design of the forthcoming demo kitchen. Another daughter, Regina, used to write the i Leoni blog, The Dish. For a 2011 post about Caesar salad, her brother, Lorenzo, dressed up as Julius Caesar, clutching a wooden bowl filled with ingredients.
Angela and Nancy are constantly considering ways to further connect with customers. The wedding registry is a draw for betrothed couples who appreciate i Leoni’s personalized level of service. “We give them special attention, rather than just giving them a gun to go around and scan things,” Angela says. She and Nancy, who gift couples with a cookbook to start their married lives, relish seeing registry customers return time and time again. “When they need something else, they have a trusted place to go, to get the right advice,” Nancy says.
Most weeks, i Leoni holds Demo Saturday to highlight various products, from food to appliances. Look for fall events with Rancho Gordo’s Sando, as well as Aaron and Elisa Weber, the brother and sister behind nearby Della Fattoria bakery and café. The store’s demo kitchen that is slated for completion next year will be outfitted with full-size appliances, allowing for more hands-on offerings.
In the meantime, save the date for i Leoni’s anniversary festivities on October 12. And in November, Angela and Nancy are throwing their annual thank-you party for patrons. “We have our wonderful, salt-of-the-earth customers who have kept us afloat through thick and thin, through recessions and pandemics,” Nancy says. “They know they can come here and we’ll take care of them. They feel welcome.” Or, as Angela puts it, “they’re like family and friends.”
i Leoni, 120 Kentucky St., Petaluma; ileoni.com
