Business
BY DANICA LLOYD
Mark Marz grew up working at his father’s metal restoration business and took ownership at age 18. The family business dates back decades, but they ocially brought the Colonial Brass name to southwest Houston in the early 1990s. Today, he said Colonial Brass has more than 20,000 Houston-area clients, not including those who ship their brass, copper, silver, bronze and steel items from all over the U.S. “When you’re dealing with things that are somebody’s grandparents’ or [have] been in the family for 200 years, the look on their face when you give it to them—that is what we do the work for,” he said. Respecting the craft Colonial Brass specializes in restoring, polishing, renishing, repairing, designing and custom fab- ricating just about anything made of metal—from door hardware and antique tea sets, to church altarware, furniture and massive bronze statues. Marz said his business is one of the only ones of its kind left in the region. Most items are returned to clients within four to six weeks, but the sta fast-tracks services for churches that meet weekly and oers same-day door hardware restoration. “We’ll do the repair on it, and then we’ll restore it in any nish that they may come up with. And when we get into nishes, there are literally 100 dierent colors that we could go with,” Marz said. A family a air Nearly half of the 12 individuals on sta at Colonial Brass are related, but Marz said all his employees are treated like family. When his previous location was destroyed by a re, he said he kept his team on the payroll until they could reopen seven months later. “They’re not just employees; they’re artisans. They’re artists in the craft that they do, and I can’t easily replace them,” he said. “I have employees that have been with me for 20 years.” Like his sta, many of Marz’s customers have been with him for generations. What’s next Marz said he expects to open a new storefront for Colonial Brass by the end of the year at 2939 Fondren Road, Houston. This will serve as an additional customer service space, as well as a Family business makes old things new at Colonial Brass in Cy-Fair
From left: Mark Marz interacts with a customer inquiring about having her grandmother’s silverware polished. His wife, Robin Marz, and sister, Kellie McCarty, work alongside him at the shop.
PHOTOS BY DANICA LLOYDCOMMUNITY IMPACT
Colonial Brass specializes in repairing, re nishing and restoring old-fashioned National Cash Registers.
The shop’s sta brings new life to family heirlooms an antiques.
retail store oering restored items he’s found on Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace and at area garage sales. The business will continue to serve clients from the FM 529 location—from bringing new life to sentimental heirlooms to custom-matching or modernizing kitchen cabinet hardware. “You’re not going to nd a million of us out there. It’s a very niche business,” Marz said. “We’re very specialized in what we do.”
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11320 FM 529, Bldg. B, Houston www.colonialbrass.net
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