A

s a teenager, The Write 
Stuff Printing owner and 
founder Dana Ishbia spent 
many days working at her grand-
mother’s invitation store. Rita Rubin 
owned Encore III, a Southfield busi-
ness well known within the Metro 
Detroit Jewish community and 
beyond.
There, Rubin sold custom invi-
tations, greeting cards and gifts. 
She taught her granddaughter the 
ins-and-outs of the invitation and 
printing business, and Ishbia, 54, 
of Birmingham, continued to work 
at her grandmother’s store through 
college.
“I developed a passion for this 
whole industry,” says Ishbia, who 
is now celebrating the 30th anni-
versary of her own printing and 
invitation business, The Write Stuff 
Printing.
Ishbia began her home-based 
business focusing on just the print-
ing side. “There used to be about a 
half-dozen invitation and gift shops 
in the area,” she says, “all kind of 
like my grandmother’s store.” 
However, none of these busi-
nesses had printing equipment, so 
Ishbia, who did have printing equip-
ment, became their go-to printer.
“I would pick up the orders from 
them and bring them to my house,” 
she recalls.

BECOMING A 
“ONE-STOP SHOP”
Yet when her grandmother decid-
ed to close Encore III, there were 
numerous custom albums in need 
of a home that were full of invita-
tions. Ishbia decided to bring them 
home and became what she calls a 
“one-stop shop” for all printing and 
invitation needs.
“People came to me for every-
thing,” she says. “I would sell the 
invitations and do the printing. I 
sold thank-you notes, I sold cocktail 
napkins and guest towels. Anything 
paper-related.”
Over time, Ishbia says 99% of 
similar stores are out of business. 
A growth in online invitation 
services and even email invitations 

A One-Stop 
 Shop

ASHLEY ZLATOPOLSKY
CONTRIBUTING WRITER 

The Write Stuff Printing 
celebrates 30 years in 
the invitation business.

