Canton Business Profile: The Write Way

Pat Rooney Gallahue became a business owner in the classic fashion: She liked the product so much that she bought the company. Last July, the Canton native took over The Write Way, a business that specializes in wedding and party invitations, note cards, and other paper products.

Pat Gallahue

Margaret Davidi of Sharon was the original owner and ran the business from the basement of her home. Many families ordered invitations for their children’s bar and bat mitzvah ceremonies from Davidi and later returned to order invitations for those grown children’s weddings. Gallahue met Davidi and became friends with her when she began to buy note cards and small gifts from The Write Way nearly 30 years ago.

When Davidi decided to retire, she called Gallahue to see if her daughter might be interested in buying the business. She wasn’t, but Gallahue’s husband, Jeff, came up with a different idea.

“Three days later, he said to me, ‘Why don’t you think about it?” Gallahue said.

Within months, Gallahue was running her own business. She kept the name The Write Way and bought the phone number that Davidi had used.

Clients call Gallahue to set up an appointment and then meet with her in an office she has created in her home. The walls are lined with shelves that hold dozens of albums filled with sample invitations, announcement cards, and personalized napkins.

Gallahue likes to talk to clients first to get a sense of what they’re looking for. If the clients are an engaged couple, for example, Gallahue will then bring them over to a table near one of the office windows and have them go through albums, bookmarking what they like. After some 30 minutes, she asks them to go back and try to prioritize what they want to consider and eliminate what they don’t like. She enjoys working with her clients and helping with the details of important celebrations.

“It’s very gratifying,” she said, “to find and to assist in choosing an invitation for a family on any special occasion and know that I helped them make the invitation as perfect as it can be.”

For clients who want their invitations addressed in calligraphy style, Gallahue works with two women who address the envelopes for $2 per invitation, a more affordable price than what Gallahue says a Boston-area hotel wedding planner may charge.

Gallahue stocks sample invitations for weddings, bar and bat mitzvahs, wedding anniversaries, bridal and baby showers, and other social occasions. She also carries personal note paper, baby announcements, personal address stamps, personalized gift bags for wine bottles, and personalized napkins for parties.

She plans to add non-paper items, such as personalized serving bowls and baby blankets to her line of merchandise. There is a 20 percent discount on invitations ordered through The Write Way, except for sale items.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Gallahue said of her first year with The Write Way, “because it’s all happy fun. Families are celebrating.”

The Write Way is located at 5 Lehan Street in Canton. Gallahue sees clients by appointment seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. To schedule an appointment, call 781-828-6893 or 781-784-5314.

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Posted by Mary Ann Price on Apr 18 2013. Filed under Business. Both comments and pings are currently closed.