52 | APRIL 27 • 2023 

W

hen Solange Messelian, owner of 
Bloomfield Hills’ Lee’s Specialty 
invitations, stationery and gifts, 
a community go-to for mitzvahs, weddings, 
parties and everything in 
between for 46 years, decided to 
retire, it left customers wondering 
where they would go for what 
Lee’s Specialty offered.
Carlyn Roth, a Jewish mom of 
two from Birmingham, has been 
an event planner designing weddings and 
parties for the past 20 years — having a pulse 
on trends and community interests with a 
fun and sophisticated aesthetic. Roth has long 
taken customers to the store for their invita-
tions, day-of stationery and custom gifts.
 After the announcement of the store clos-
ing, Roth knew there would be a void left in 
the market. A marriage was made in heaven 
when she took the opportunity to continue 
the tradition and become the store’s new 
owner under the new name of Lee’s Paperie, 
which opened the week of Valentine’s Day 
with a refresh of beautiful on-trend gifts for 
every occasion along with the many invitation 

offerings. 
Taking the store over was not something 
Roth had a plan for. 
“I always loved the aspect of paper goods 
and the planning, stationery and everything 
that goes into that part of events was always 
something that interested me,
” Roth said. “But 
it wasn’t anything on my radar, it was just one 
of the many aspects I deal with for weddings.
” 
Wondering herself where she would take 

her clients with the store closing while also 
hearing from current and former clients, Roth 
knew there was still a market for it and real-
ized it was something she could bring to the 
community.
Being friends with Messelian, who has 
decided to stay on and work with the store, 
conversations began about transitioning to a 
new store. The old store did effectively close, 
but then they reopened with a similar concept 
under the new Lee’s Paperie name. 
Roth took over the space in December and 
had been renovating the whole store since 
then. Roth went to a gift show in Atlanta to 
find some cool, new products. 
“Our loyal customers love specific products 
— so my goal was definitely to keep those in 
mind when restocking the store, but then also 
bring a fresh new perspective of bringing in 
some local companies to showcase some of 
their stuff as well,
” Roth said. “That includes 
local goods like candles from Detroit Rose, as 
well as ceramics from Abigail Murray.
” 
With a local flair included, Roth says the 
store will have a Jewish flair. With a lot of its 
customer base being Jewish, the store has mul-
tiple local Jewish vendors, including offering 
Jewish-based greeting cards and stationery. 
Being a women-led store is also important to 
Roth. 
Part of Lee’s Paperie business is the gift store 
option. 
“I always have people asking me for brides-
maids’ gifts or shower hostess gifts or whatev-
er it is, we have all of that — we can personal-
ize anything,
” Roth said. 
A major goal Roth has for the store is a goal 
the old store had, too, that anybody who walks 
through the door is a client automatically. 
“Whatever you need or want, we’re going 
to work to fulfill that, whatever design you’re 
looking for, whatever price point, any kind 
of event, we want to take everything and 
anything on and make sure the client leaves 
with what they’re the most happy with. That 
includes gifts, stationery, invitations, any-
thing,
” Roth said. 
As an event planner, Roth has background 
and knowledge to guide the wants and needs 
of whole events. 
“To lead people through everything, from 
the initial invitation to everything they need 
for the day of, venues, place cards, event sig-
nage,
” Roth said. “We really want to emphasize 
we have something for everybody.
” 

You can reach the store at (248) 671-4000 or visit https://

leespaperie.com for more info. 

Carlyn Roth

 Lee’s 
Reimagined

DANNY SCHWARTZ STAFF WRITER

The former Lee’s Specialty 
reopens as Lee’s Paperie.