JUNE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT THE PAPER HEART
JUNE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT THE PAPER HEART
JUNE MEMBER SPOTLIGHT
The Paper Heart
The Paper Heart Social Goods & Event Studios (formerly Paper Heart Affairs) is not only a bright and fun mercantile offering trendy goods for your home and social occasions, they have a bloom room with live plants along with dried and sola flowers, three studio event spaces available to rent and house an Airbnb on the lower level of their building.
Emily Pasqualino has always had a passion for entertaining and hosting events. Long before she began her business and while in the midst of her insurance career she had been throwing elaborate parties and creating special gifts for friends.
In 2018, she could no longer resist her calling. While on her routine walk through town (Latrobe) she began looking for spaces available to rent. She found a very small space on Main Street that used to be a barbershop. After some cleaning and painting, Paper Heart Affairs was born. Not long after opening, she grew out of the small space. She then moved to the larger storefront available next door. The vision for her business was always to eventually have a space to be able to host events. In December of 2020, The Hope Center on Ligonier Street went up for sale. Emily and her husband Greg had decided to purchase the building and make the best use of all of its space. They wanted to bring a fresh perspective to the downtown cultural district. Thus, The Paper Heart was established. The year-long renovation included vast repairs, lots and lots of paint, careful and thought out design of the studio event rooms, a complete restructure of the store business model, and a revamp of the lower-level apartment that is now home to a trendy Airbnb. “We want to offer atmosphere and an experience when you visit us.” said Emily. The Airbnb has been up and running since December 2021 and they have had guests stay from all over. The store portion of the business offers goods for entertaining, the home, unique gifts, and more. The studio event rooms are available to be rented for special occasions and the couple plan on hosting a variety of fun events throughout the year including farm-to-table dinners, bourbon tastings, holiday parties, and more.
As a resident and business owner, Latrobe's community involvement and service are of the utmost importance to Emily. She is the founder and organizer of Latrobe Shop Hop Nights, the chair of the Downtown Latrobe Christmas Decorating Committee and serves on the Holly Jolly Christmas in Latrobe, Mister Rogers Days, and Latrobe 4th of July committees.
Being a part of the chamber is a truly valuable experience. It has offered us an even bigger sense of community and a great deal of support for our business. The chamber also helps us stay connected to other businesses and keep up to date with the growth in the downtown Latrobe area.
