Margueritta Wheeler was 18 years old and fresh out of High School in 1940 when she faced an economy that was still feeling the effects of the Great Depression. War was on the horizon and at the time, it was rare for a woman to join the workforce and even more unusual for a woman to start her own business. In this cultural climate she founded Wheeler Printers in 1940 as a photostat and mimeograph service across from the Vallejo Civic Center Building. Known as Rita, her diligence led to new opportunities as she expanded her services to grow her business. She evolved into a printer of letterheads, business cards, envelopes, and announcements and installed Vallejo's first printing press in 1947.
She owned Wheeler Printing and continued to service her clients for 67 years when she sold the business to Sonoma Printers in 2007. The sale to Sonoma Printers meant that the Bauder Family who founded Sonoma Printers in 1964 could provide an exit plan for Rita. Then 85, Rita was still active in the business and her staff of 20 joined forces with Sonoma Printers to form Wheeler-Sonoma Printers.
Baird Conner whose expertise in Printing spans over 20 years is the newest owner of Wheeler-Sonoma. Under Baird's leadership, Wheeler-Sonoma Printers has expanded its product offering to include engraved stationery to compliment the other special processes of foil stamping and letterpress printing. We have also upgraded our pre-press machinery and by updating our Print Management Software we offer online ordering and cloud-based inventory management.
All of these improvements are investments in our future to continue to honor the legacy of Rita with hard work, earnest customer service, and commitment to quality.
