Business Spotlight: Paper Princess

Published 11:34 pm Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Susan Lama grew up playing and working in the building of the store she now owns — except that more than 20 years ago, she was running around in a photography studio and helping to transfer video from older mediums to VHS tapes.

Now she’s the owner of the store in the building that once housed Finley’s Studio, and she calls it the Paper Princess. Inside is a collection of specialty gifts, jewelry, stationery, pens, knick-knacks, holiday decorations, journals, candles and trinkets.

The ceiling is bright cranberry and plum with white trim. Short chandeliers with a dozen twisted silver tentacles light the shop, and peppy rock music plays in the background.

Dalton resident Debby Parsons said she shops at the Paper Princess almost every week.

“Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, Christmas — I love to go in there at Christmas,” Parsons said. “I think they have unique gifts. They just have some things that the other stores here don’t have.”

Some of Parsons’ favorite purchases include serving utensils in the shape of palm trees and pineapples. The novelty offerings run across counters and spill onto the floors. There are lip gloss balls in fight-cancer-pink twice the size of marble shooters. Slippers in polka dot and animal prints line a back counter waiting their turn to be monogrammed with personalized initials. Eco-friendly lunch coolers disguised as stylish pocketbooks hang on a rack near the cash register.

Paper Princess offers complimentary gift wrapping and assistance with finding the right gift.

Lama’s expanding business was just a hobby when she began printing event invitations in 2003. Then a mother of four, she decided to quit her job at a local pediatrician’s office to become a stay at home mom. She enjoyed creating and selling personalized stationery, so she set up a small display in her husband’s business on Waugh Street.

“My little hobby kind of grew,” she said.

Lama said she outgrew her husband’s store, so he moved her into a partition inside a warehouse where she could sell her items in a store called Among Friends. She moved out of that location to another downtown building and finally to her current location at 259 N. Hamilton St. in August.

While many businesses are shrinking, Lama’s is growing, she said, and she’s not entirely sure why.

“Everybody’s always going to need a gift for something,” she suggested. “If you keep your range right, at least up to $30, that’s a great price point.”

Sarah Robetor, Lama’s longtime friend and college roommate, said the personal attention customers get at the store is a point of pride.

“We enjoy our customers and look forward to them coming in,” she said. Robetor and Lama are the only full-time employees.

Lama said her husband, Juan, and friends have been helping her refurbish and decorate the building.

“The store has been renovated down to the plumbing,” she said.

A big black and white zebra painted on the back of the building was courtesy of her husband’s talent, she said.

“I’m a registered nurse by trade,” Lama said. “Sometimes I miss that. I miss benefits and insurance and a paycheck, but I enjoy what I do, and it’s brought out a part of me that I didn’t know existed. I didn’t know I had any creativity in my bones.”



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Merchandise: Invitations for special occasions, monogramming, stationery, pens, jewelry, specialty gifts

Location: 259 N. Hamilton St., Dalton

Employees: Two full time, one part time

Hours: Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Contact: (706) 226-5011