BOUTIQUE TO OPEN IN LAKE GENEVA
Business owner set to hold grand opening May 16 for first brick-and-mortar location
Estevan Longoria is set to open his first brick-and-mortar Lost Files clothing store in downtown Lake Geneva. Longoria has designed clothing items for the Milwaukee Bucks and Milwaukee Brewers.
A Wisconsin business owner who has partnered with the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks is set to establish his first brick-andmortar location in downtown Lake Geneva.
Estevan Longoria is opening a Lost Files clothing store at 607 W, Main St., the former location of Coquette Lingerie Boutique. A grand opening is scheduled for Saturday, May 16.
Lost Files is set feature what Longoria calls "Midwest street ware," including shorts, T-shirts, zip-up sweaters, hoodies, hats and tote bags.
"It's just typical clothing items, but they all have the 'Midwest street ware flair,' I guess," he said.
Longoria feels downtown Lake Geneva is an ideal location for his first brick-and-mortar store, especially with the city's summer tourism season approaching.
"I liked that it was more of a tourist destination compared to a place like Milwaukee, where we're from," Longoria said. "With the turnover and foot traffic we would see, especially during the summer months, it was intriguing."
Longoria has operated Lost Files as an online business through www.lostfiles.shop since 2021. He became interested in the clothing store industry through his goal of operating a business and his interest in fashion.
"So, it was kind of an interest in both of those things and something I felt if I could make a decent living off of this, it would be really cool to try and do," Longoria said. "So, I gave it a shot."
Last year, Longoria began partnering with the Milwaukee Brewers and Milwaukee Bucks, designing clothing items for both organizations.
He designed a T-shirt for the Milwaukee Brewers that was used for a giveaway promotion as part of the team's Wisconsin Artist Series.
Longoria also designed hats, T-shirts, pullover sweatshirts and knit sweaters for the Milwaukee Bucks, which were sold in the team's pro shop. He said a representative from the Bucks contacted him through LinkedIn about designing clothing items for the organization.
"That was a really cool moment for me because I'm a huge Bucks fan and been a Bucks fan since I can remember," Longoria said. "So, that was really awesome, to be recognized by them and for us to be considered to do something like that. That's obviously a huge milestone for us."
Longoria will be the main operator of the Lake Geneva store, but his brother, Pedro Longoria, is set to assist him with inventory management, and he plans to hire a few employees. Longoria said he designs the clothing items himself, but they are produced by manufacturers throughout the world.
"So, it's really depending on what the actual item is, because certain manufacturers are better at producing different garments," he said. "We have multiple manufacturers that we use for all the different products that we do."
Depending on the success of the Lake Geneva store, Longoria may open more locations in the future.
"I think this is one of those things where we're going to take what we learn from this location and see how it does, evaluate how this store does with the consumer and kind of go from there," Longoria said. "If this goes really well and this is something that could be more of a long-term home for us, we will really look at that."
