ASHLAND — Rochelle Shambaugh knew she loved photography from a young age.
She got her start at Mapleton High School, where she edited the school’s yearbook and took photography classes. When she graduated, she worked at Spectrum Photo.
Shambaugh eventually opened a sister company, Chelle’s Printing & Design, that operated within the business.
“Every year I was growing so much that the business was literally split down the middle,” Shambaugh said. “I started as 100 square-feet and then took half the building that we had, and then I took over the other and we were just bursting.”
She eventually bought and took over the Spectrum Photo side of things, too. Shambaugh also started selling items in an Etsy shop, SweetCartolina, on the side.
Shambaugh said she ships out about 20,000 Etsy orders annually, which consists of around 100,000 items.
Now, Shambaugh has expanded again, opening a storefront called “Cartolina on Main.” Cartolina means postcard in Italian, which is why she selected it as the name of her shop. It also means “thick paper” in the Philippines.
“It has to do with paper, and everything we do here is paper, whether it’s photo or stationary,” Shambaugh said.
Cartolina on Main’s storefront location combines the sale of Shambaugh’s Etsy wares with her photo printing business.
Shambaugh said she’ll still continue selling items in her Etsy shop, too.
Shambaugh’s store is located in a historic space in downtown Ashland at 16 E. Main St., a building the city of Ashland purchased back in 2018.
All in due process
The city received grant money to help renovate the inside and outside of the building, according to previous Ashland Source reporting. Internal renovations were completed in June, according to Ashland Mayor Matt Miller’s Facebook account.
Cartolina on Main officially opened on Aug. 19, Shambaugh said. But it had been in the works long before its opening date. Shambaugh worked with the city of Ashland for 19 months as the building underwent renovations.
“I don’t know how else to explain it other than God just put it all into motion,” Shambaugh said. “I just kept talking to (Mayor Miller) and just continuing to ask him about it, and then nobody really coming forward to purchase it.
“We just had a great success rate being in the community already, and showing him what I could bring to downtown just helped. Then we were involved in every step of the process from the paint color to the outlets on the wall.”
She aimed to emphasize many of the building’s historic features as she moved into it. A fireplace, for example, has been decorated with photo samples.
Many of the furniture pieces in the shop came with the building, too, according to Shambaugh. She’s worked to repurpose them, but wanted to maintain the building’s historical look and colors.
What does Cartolina on Main offer?
Cartolina on Main still boasts all the services Shambaugh’s photo-printing business offered, from photo prints to business cards. It even has equipment to do photo scanning, restorations and to transfer video tapes to DVDs.
The shop utilizes notebooks, gel pens, stickers, keychains and more. Many of the items can be customized, too.
Shambaugh selects items that make it into the store. Often, she said, it’s a matter of keeping up-to-date with trends and following her intuition.
For Shambaugh, the process of moving and expanding her business again has been “exhausting, but a lot of fun.” Her favorite part so far comes from seeing people come in the shop and get excited about their purchases.
“You get reviews on Etsy, and people send you messages, but you can’t feel that emotion,” she said. “You can’t see the smiles and get people’s opinions … It’s just a different experience.
“I think it’s great for the customers because they get to see us face-to-face, and talk, and personalize it even more, (and) find products that they can’t find anywhere else.”
Shambaugh’s business is also a member of the Ashland Area Chamber of Commerce. The chamber will host a ribbon cutting for the public to celebrate the opening of Cartolina on Main at 12 p.m. on Sept. 19.
Below are photos of the shop’s interior and several of the products it’s selling.