DSD 94


Intense heat from a volcano adjacent to her onyx mine cre- ates the rich colors and patterns in the stone. Verona doesn’t sell raw materials from the mine to others, but instead uses it to create one-of-kind luxury items for her customers, including bowls, vases, plates, lanterns, candleholders, bookends, boxes, tables, credenzas, mirrors and art.


Verona, a native of Puerto Rico, is a big believer in the adage “go big or go home.” Her background includes a stint as the owner of a high-end boutique, with nine locations extending from New York to Argentina and a customer list that included entertainers Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin. She also worked as a fashion


model for big-name designers, including Valentino.


After selling her boutique


chain, Verona found herself vis- iting a friend in Dallas. She liked the city and decided to stay. “At the time I was basically retired and I enjoyed that,” she says, “but after a while, I became bored.” Initially, her focus was on making and selling luxury pillows. In response to demand from customers, she expanded into furniture and decorative accessories and opened her World Trade Center showroom in 2010.


One of Verona’s current


loves are handwoven rugs from Mexico. “Mexico brought me to life,” she says, as she displays a rug from that country and points


out the rich, burgundy dye used in its making. Verona is extremely particular about the craftspeople and ar- tisans she hires. “I really like to work with people and families who have done things, such as upholstery or woodworking, for generations,” she says. All of her furniture is created by hand and has a lifetime warranty. She wants her clients to have fur- niture of incomparable quality that will stand the test of time. Currently, her clients are about 70 percent designers and 30 percent retail. “We want to attract more designers, and we will be opening a retail center in the Design District in a couple of months.”


Looking toward the future, she says: “I hope to open a


large factory where I can em- ploy many more people. I will be able to have more control over the manufacturing of my furniture, and I like the idea of providing jobs.” With her pos- itive outlook and love for what she does and her clients, that will just be another accomplish- ment added to the long list of them for Verona Martinez. When she reaches this goal, you can be sure, it will not be by accident. 2


VERONA PRIVE MAISON


2050 Stemmons Freeway, #11010 Dallas TX 75207 214-790-6303


veronaprive.com


Glenda Vosburgh is a freelance writer based in Dallas. Contact her at gvos@verizon.net.


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