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Our
Town
Terrye Cheatham Sees a ‘Captive’ Market for Her Line of Greeting
Cards
Compton native comes
up with a winning idea
By
Cheryl Scott
Bulletin
Staff Writer
Martha
Stewart’s loss may be Terrye Cheatham’s gain. The Compton-born
attorney has started a unique greeting card line especially designed
for prisoners and their loved ones. And so far, her Three Squares
Greeting Cards is the only game in town.
“When Martha Stewart went to prison I was really worried,” Cheatham
told The Bulletin. “I thought she would see what I saw — there
are no greeting cards on the market for prisoners to send to their
loved ones for holidays and birthdays and such, and none for those on the
outside
to send to their relatives or friends who are incarcerated.”
But Martha missed the boat. Or maybe a woman selling 1,000 products
in K-marts across the nation decided a prison-based greeting card line
was small potatoes. “To me it seems like a great opportunity,” said
Cheatham. “There are 2.2 million people in this country who are incarcerated
in long-term facilities or prisons. If each of those wants to keep in touch
with five or 10 people on the outside, we’re looking at a market
of 10 or 20 million people.”
She hit upon the idea when she was an attorney at the Sheriff’s Office
Headquarters. “I did a lot of work with incarcerated people and their
families,” she said. “One of their biggest challenges is keeping
their relationships alive through the period during which they are separated.”
She began writing greeting cards several years ago, thinking that
one day she would try to market a line of cards that were specific to the
situation of prisoners and their families. Prisoners have access to commissaries
and canteens that have products they can buy with money in their prison
accounts — they call it money on their books. One of the first cards
I thought of was a ‘thank-you for putting money on my books’ that
prisoners can send to relatives.”
Cheatham also learned through her dealings with prisoners and family
members that the cards available for purchase at canteens and commissaries
are common generic greeting cards that are at least 10 years old and look
old-fashioned. “Not only do they not say anything relevant to their
situation,” she said. “They look like the most generic cards
you can find and like they were printed years ago.”
She has recently started marketing her cards in earnest. There are
two lines — one for prisoners to send out. “They want to send
Mother’s Day cards, birthday wishes to their kids and their relatives
and friends, Christmas cards — you name it. And they want to express
thanks for the families’ support and their regret that they cannot
be with them at this time.”
On the other hand, families and friends of those who are incarcerated
want to send cards on the same occasions we all do, but they would like
them to be more specific. “They may want to say they understand that
the prisoner’s choices have made it impossible for them to be together
but they have faith that when they do come home they will begin a better
life. And there is always room for humor in cards.”
The “outgoing” cards have to be marketed through the government
agency that controls the prisons. There are many nationwide conferences
a year for members of the corrections industry. “That is a huge industry,” Cheatham
said. “These are conventions where professionals gather for meetings
and seminars, but they all have a big vendor component. Virtually everything
in a prison, from the phones used during visits in high-security facilities
to blankets, chairs, locks and plumbing fixtures comes from private industry
and is marketed at corrections industry conferences.” So far, she
has not placed her line inside a prison system, but she’s just getting
started on this phase of her project.
The “ingoing” cards are a different matter. “I have to
get retailers who will sell my cards.
So far I have three. But there is a great big retail chain in Pennsylvania
that has called me expressing interest and I’m going to see them
soon,” she said. “There’s also a retail chain up in Canada
that is interested. I have already printed cards for this market, so that
as soon as I get an order I can fill it.”
At this time Cheatham is on the verge of a big boon if her idea takes
off. “It’s been expensive and time consuming,” she said. “I
work in the general counsel’s office for the Los Angeles Unified
School District and that’s a full-time job. Getting a greeting card
line together involved getting a consultant because I didn’t know
how to start up a business like this. It also involves a graphic artist,
print contracts, purchase of paper stock and a publicist to help me get
the word out. And attending conferences in different areas of the country
takes both time and money. But I’m at the point now when everything
is ready to go as soon as I get a major retailer.”
She admits she has not made much headway on placing her cards inside
prisons. “But I think I just need to find the right person to make
it happen,” she said. “One of the most important things the
prison authorities encourage for inmates is to maintain contact with their
families and supportive friends. They also encourage them to develop a
sense so responsibility and remembering birthdays and sending greetings
is part of personal responsibility. Lastly, keeping good morale among inmates
is in everyone’s best interests. So why would they not get behind
the idea of custom-designed greeting cards to fulfill the communication
needs of prison inmates?”
Why indeed?
Visit www.threesquaresgreetings.com for more information.
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