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Leesburg’s Latest Sneaker Boutique Has Some of the Most Fashionable Shoes in the Country

Dana Green has established a new hot spot for sneaker lovers in Northern Virginia.

By Haley Huchler August 11, 2022 at 3:01 pm

In May 2021, Dana Green had the idea to put a sneaker boutique in a vacant storefront she and her husband owned in Leesburg. As a sneaker lover herself, she thought it would be a great addition to the community. She went to a sneaker store in Tysons Corner Center and asked the owner if he would be interested in renting out the Leesburg space. “He looked at me and was like, ‘Why don’t you do it yourself?’” Green says.

So she did. In August 2021, Green opened the doors of her sneaker boutique, Restocked. Green says the Leesburg community welcomed the business from the start.

“The day that we opened, we had a kid that was here at 4 a.m. We opened at 10 a.m. He was camped out [waiting],” Green says.

Restocked is a reseller of popular fashion sneakers that are difficult to find in traditional shoe stores because they sell out so quickly. Green researches which sneakers are popular, and when the shoes come onto the market — usually in small drops with limited stock — she sends her team to stores to purchase them. Restocked buys all its shoes directly from retail stores such as Foot Locker, Finish Line, and Champs. They don’t sell used shoes, and they don’t buy and trade due to the difficulty of authenticating merchandise in-store.

At Restocked, you won’t find the type of sneakers one wears for a marathon or a basketball game: This is a place for fashion sneakers, not athletic sneakers. Green says comfort and function are often the last things on her customers’ minds.

“People don’t typically ask for something comfortable. It’s just style that they’re looking for,” she says. “It’s all about style with these sneakers.”

restocked boutique — *Photo by Christin Boggs Peyper*

Green has found an eager market for stylish sneakers in the Northern Virginia area — and beyond. Restocked has seen customers drive in from Winchester, Virginia; Martinsburg, West Virginia; and Frederick, Maryland. One customer even visited from Miami after he saw the store’s Instagram page.
“Sneaker lovers will go all over to get a pair,” Green says.

Green herself has been a sneaker lover since she was in elementary school. But it was a long time before she made her passion into a career.

Born in Washington, DC, and raised in Clinton, Maryland, Green attended college at Delaware State University and went into law enforcement, working as a United States Secret Service Uniformed Division officer for several years. But Green realized that she wanted to break into the world of business.

“[I was] always wanting to be an entrepreneur. My grandfather was an entrepreneur; he owned a barbershop. So it was just something that was in me,” Green says.

Her first big step into entrepreneurship was in 2006, when she opened a franchise of The Little Gym in Bowie, Maryland. In 2021, Green decided to pursue her dream, but it didn’t come without its own worries and fears. She had never worked in retail, so she was nervous about the process of collecting inventory and stocking a store.

“I told my husband, ‘If we could start with 100 pairs of sneakers, I will be happy,’” Green says. Now, the store carries about 600 pairs at any given time.

Green relies on her team to source much of the store’s merchandise. That team is made up of her husband and their seven adult children, who live spread out across the country.

Restocked doesn’t have any hired employees — it’s strictly a family business, at least for now. But Green says that young kids who shop at the store often express their desire to work there.

“They’ll tell me ‘I want to work here when I’m older.’ And I want to get to that point, where we’re that busy where we can hire kids in the community,” Green says.

Bolstering the community is important to Green. Restocked’s business model is focused on serving the community, even just by helping a customer pick out a pair of sneakers for an important occasion. She hopes to feature a different local business’ products every month. “That’s really our goal, is to help others while they’re helping us,” Green says. “If I can help someone else grow their business … that would be awesome to me. To me, that means much more than selling any sneakers.” 450 Madison Trade Plz. SE, Leesburg