THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, April 19, 1995 TAG: 9504180110
SECTION: ISLE OF WIGHT CITIZEN PAGE: 08 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Cover Story
SOURCE: BY JODY R. SNIDER, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: BATTERY PARK LENGTH: Long : 133 lines
OK, DOUG MERRIMAN admits it. He can't shoot a decent game of pool.
And Dave Martinez, his partner, can't either.
But what they can do is build pool tables.
So build them they do. Sometimes a dozen at a time, seldom fewer than five at a time. But occasionally, with a special order that requires a special price, they'll do just one.
Whatever the order calls for, the guys at M&M Enterprises, at Sunset Point Marina in Battery Park, are confident they'll know how to fill it.
Merriman says he began building pool tables five years ago, just because it was something he always wanted to do.
``I had applied for a permit to run a pool hall in the area, but they didn't want to let me sell liquor. So it was like having half a license because, if you're going to have a pool hall, you got to have liquor.
``When I got home with my license that day, I found a magazine in my mail box that told me how to build my own pool table.''
For Merriman, that was the only cue he needed to get the balls rolling.
``I want to build custom tables made from cherry or walnut woods. I want someone who cares about getting a quality pool table,'' he says.
``What you really know about what you're doing comes out in the end product. And I'd rather be a family heirloom than a piece of garbage.''
Martinez echoes the sentiment.
``You better be good. I mean, what do you want? A messed-up looking pool table? No! You want something that's going to outlast you.''
So the beginnings of these heirlooms begin in small stacks - of table legs in one corner, base boards in another and stacks of corner pieces in another - all waiting to be assembled as the orders come in at the quiet waterfront business. The marina fronts the Pagan River in Battery Park, a village just east of Smithfield.
And Merriman and Martinez don't advertise. They say there's no need.
Long's Billiards in Newport News is a major buyer of the ``Little Jewel,'' a small table - 3 1/2 by 7 feet - that sells for $2,600.``They are lovely little things,'' says Long's owner Tony Long. ``They're not real fancy, but they are beautiful.''
The larger tables - 4 1/2 by 9 - sell for $4,000.
Then there are the custom tables - special orders only - with carvings, special lights in the legs and inlaid marble. They run as high as $6,000.
``What do you want?'' Martinez asks. ``Black walnut? We build what we think would make that person happy. And when we're finished, it's a one-of-a-kind.''
For example, the two once built a dark walnut table with green marble cut in the shape of shamrocks inlaid on the legs. For $6,000.
In another year, the two plan to hit the road and try selling their tables to a broader market.
``That means jumping in the car and driving to St. Louis to talk to people who might be interested in selling them,'' Martinez says. ``We want to mass produce with the personal touch.''
But he is careful to say he and Merriman don't want to get so big that they trade quality for quantity.
``We don't want to get into the staples and glue like you find with some store-bought tables. We'd have to hire more people. If you hire more people, you lose quality because nobody does it like you do it.''
Merriman and Martinez met 25 years ago, when Merriman went hunting for a new motorcycle and found Martinez working as a service manager at a Norfolk motorcycle shop.
The friendship started when Merriman cranked the motor on a bike.
Their business relationship didn't begin until three years ago.
``We discussed being partners for a long time because we were friends for a long time,'' Martinez says. ``And we didn't want to ruin that. So we set a few rules.
``We don't run around together and we don't live together. When you're business partners with someone, it just doesn't work if you run around or live together.''
Merriman, 45, lives on the water in Battery Park. Martinez, 46, lives in the Willoughby Spit section of Norfolk.
Their shared love of motorcycles, though it brought them together, almost separated them as well. Permanently.
In 1969, Martinez was riding his bike in Norfolk when he collided with a car head-on. He spent 14 months in the hospital, and the accident could still cost him a leg.
In 1981, Merriman was riding his bike in Norfolk when a tire blow-out sent him crashing into a bridge. That accident did cost him a leg.
Martinez still rides. Merriman does not.
And recently, just when things were going well, Merriman suffered another setback.
``I had a stroke,'' he says, almost jokingly. ``Wouldn't ya figure. You get things going. I was doing what I was supposed to be doing. I had even taken off some weight - but I had a stroke anyway.''
So while Merriman has been recuperating with relatives in Florida - he expects to be back at the end of this month - Martinez is working in Battery Park, keeping the business afloat.
And pool tables aren't the only thing coming out of this warehouse.
``You just can't do one thing,'' Martinez says. ``You do one thing and the market goes bad, you're screwed. Nothing gets thrown out here. Scraps are used to make cutting boards. Every kitchen needs one.''
Old clocks taken from scrap boats become mantel clocks. Pieces of driftwood found floating in the nearby James River are salvaged to make lamps.
And then there are the special orders for custom furniture.
``Recycling is everywhere,'' Merriman says. ``I drive around in my pickup and pick up things that these big companies throw away. I could be a junkman and recycle things. It's all out there.''
``One man's trash is another man's stash,'' Merriman says with a laugh.
And for him and Martinez, they say they're getting good at turning one man's trash into cash.
For their ideas to gel, it just takes some small talk over a game of pool.
Even if they're not so good at that. ILLUSTRATION: STARTING FROM SCRATCH
[Color Photo]
ON THE COVER
Dave Martinez, a partner with M&M Enterprises, checks a leather
pocket for the pool table he is working on in a picture by staff
photographer John H. Sheally II.
Staff photos by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Dave Martinez checks the rail of a pool table that he is making. The
custom tables sell for between $2,600 and $4,000.
M&M Enterprises partners Dave Martinez and Doug Merriman specialize
in pool tables, but will craft just about anything out of wood.
``You do one thing and the market goes bad, you're screwed,'' says
Martinez. ``Nothing gets thrown out here. Scraps are used to make
cutting boards. Every kitchen needs one.''
Variety is a trademark of M&M Enterprises. At left, an old clock
taken from a scrap boat became a mantel clock. Above, what appears
to be a guitar is a cutting board.
by CNB