Founded in March of 1969, R & S Enterprises Printing Shop was founded by our father and mother, as a means to put the four children through college. We bought printing equipment from a gentleman who was going out of business, the equipment and type was transported to the house and put in the basement. Where the printing business was learned from the ground up, with typesetting, and paper cutting and running the printing press. At the same time we started doing wedding invitations where the brides came to the house at all hours of the day and night.
We started small and grew through the 70's, by the end of 1979 we moved to 1008 Merchant Street, in Ambridge, Pennsylvania, where we added more than just Printing, and Wedding Invitations and Silk Flowers. The new location allowed us to add some more areas such as Advertising Specialties, Signs, Banners, Bridal Gifts, Napkins, Plates, Reception Supplies and Plaques and Trophies, and many more items. We were noted for our Wedding Invitations, we gave a 25% discount on our wedding invitations, brides from all over the tri-state area came to order their invitations, we did the parents, children and even grandchildren of the first customers. We became one of the top 10 wedding dealers in the country with Carlson Craft who we still have a relationship with today. In those 55 years we have 43 Distinguished Dealer awards, an honour only given to the top one percent of the dealers in the country. Carlson Craft never rated their largest dealers, we were always told were we in the top 10, but thanks to knowing the president of the company and a few of the Vice-Presidents we were told we were number 3 in the country, not bad for a little printing shop. Sharon built a relationship with one of the company's Vice-Presidents and she would talk to her about what the brides were asking for and Carlson Craft would make it up, as many of the items were both of their ideas.
In January of 2000 the business was turned over to the two older children, who then incorporated the business and changed the name to the present, R & S Enterprises Printing, Inc. Sharon continued to drive the business as we expanded more and more into other areas, but then computers became commonplace, and the internet and brides flocked to the internet because of prices. About that time then Sharon was diagnosed with stage 4 colon cancer, she went through treatment and surgery and beat it. Then COVID hit and we were forced to close as we were not considered a necessary business. Sharon found out that the cancer had come back and she fought it hard, for 10 years before it finally got to her and she passed on in December of 2023. Then in February of 2024 my brother died leaving me the sole survivor of the family and of the business. So now we have entered the 3rd generation with my Niece and Nephew helping to run the business. we still do business, for local businesses in the ways of business cards, forms and other things. We still do business printing, wedding invitations, advertising specialities and plaques and trophies.