Batavia resident Komal Chaudhari was on a path to becoming a physical therapist when her passion for leather art took her in a different direction.

Today, she’s helping folks throughout the Kane County area, as well as all over the world, discover a wide variety of handcrafted premium leather bags and accessories at Komal’s Passion Leather, 1550 Beach St., Batavia. Her seemingly endless assortment of leather goods features timeless designs and exceptional craftsmanship while remaining affordable, which is something that’s important to her and her customers.

While her products have been available online at passionleather.com for years, she now has a retail shop in Batavia as well.

“We have been online for all these years and we created a little retail space where you can come and shop as well,” she said. “That just happened in January and we’d like people to know that we’re here.”

Messenger and shoulder bags, briefcases, totes, backpacks, sports duffel bags, travel duffel bags, makeup kit bags, toiletry bags and journals are some of the many leather items available at Komal’s Passion Leather.

“I’m originally from India but I moved to Chicago because my husband was here,” she said. “The artisans in India were getting paid well for their beautiful leather, but the bags were being sold here for a lot of money. My idea was that these bags are often sold for $400 and prices like that, so how can we provide these bags that are not that expensive, but provide those leather bags at an affordable price?”

While working a part-time job in finance in 2012, Chaudhari began selling leather products through Etsy, the global online marketplace that focuses on such goods. After gaining some attention there, she began selling items through Amazon.

“I was doing all of it, and my mother-in-law and husband would help on weekends while I was working for Bank of America,” she said. “I grew from a garage in 2017 and moved to Batavia and finally got a lease on a space in West Chicago. And from there word grew and in 2022 we bought space in Batavia. The Batavia Chamber of Commerce has been so supportive of our brand, so we opened a pop-up store in the warehouse to let people know that our brand is here in the Tri-Cities.”

Although initially headed toward a career of helping others get back on their feet, Chaudhari is helping people in a much different way, but one that has been equally fulfilling.

“A lot of times people will send me cards online or handwritten cards,” she said. “They write things like ‘We never thought we could buy such a good bag for my son’s graduation for him to use in college,’” she said. “They’re surprised to learn that they don’t have to spend $200 to $300 for genuine leather goods that last for years. It makes me happy to hear they are happy with the products and what they’re spending for them.”

And while she loves the products she sells, she also loves the community she calls home.

“I live in Batavia with my whole family and my brother-in-law and all the kids go to school in Batavia,” she said. “We like the area and definitely want to grow here.”