172-летняя галвестонская мастерская памятников закроется в сентябре, уступив место новым бизнес-проектам

Business epitaph: A 172-year-old Galveston business known for custom gravestones and other memorial markers will officially close at month’s end as an industry focused on death faces its own mortality. Ott Monument Works, 3928 Broadway, was set Friday to manufacture its last custom creations, said Danny Ott, who, with his sister Linda Ott-Thompson, runs the family owned company. By Sept. 1, the business will close for good, Ott said. Closure of one of the island’s oldest family owned companies comes after the sale last week of Ott Monument Works’ land and building on Broadway — but not the business. The buyer of the real estate this week wasn’t ready to disclose her identity or plans for the property but promised news soon. The Ott siblings in the spring of last year put the company’s Galveston and Hitchcock operations up for sale as they pondered retirement. At the time, they considered selling the company, but didn’t have a buyer in mind or sight. Galveston had just become an incorporated city in 1839, when A.A. Allen set up a marble shop on Center Street between Strand and Mechanic streets, according to the company’s history. Twenty-five years later, Allen entered a partnership with a young stonemason/sculptor Charles Sebastian Ott, who after Allen’s death, bought out the heirs and changed the name to Ott Monument Works. The business outgrew the Center Street quarters, so he moved to Sealy and 22nd streets. “A fire destroyed this building,” according to the company’s history. “He soon reopened only to have ruin again three years later in the 1900 Storm when flood water inundated both his shop and home.” The storm brought the company to the verge of bankruptcy, the family has said. Ott Monument Works, in its fifth-generation of family ownership, is known for custom monuments, statues and vases and is the oldest such business in Texas. A succession plan wasn’t really an option, Linda Ott-Thompson said last year. The next generation is pursuing other professions and interests, so there’s no one in the family to take over when she and Danny Ott retire, she said. And the industry has changed drastically, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, Ott-Thompson said. Society is more mobile, meaning people don’t visit grave sites or memorialize their loved ones in the way generations before did, Ott-Thompson said. The memorial and monument industry is undergoing a major transformation driven by a rise in cremations, shifting consumer preferences toward high personalization, new digital manufacturing tools and economic pressures like global granite tariffs, according to industry reports. The siblings’ great-great grandfather was the first owner/sculptor of the business, which left lasting work in cemeteries across the island and mainland. In the late 1920s, Charles Ott designed and erected the World War I Memorial at Menard Park near the corner of Seawall Boulevard and 28th Street. The memorial cost about $4,500 — nearly $70,000 in today’s dollars — with Ott donating his design and labor, according to Rosenberg Library. The central portion included a bronze Honor Roll plaque with the names of the 74 men and one woman from Galveston who lost their lives in service to their country. Large estate memorials or family monuments that served as focal points for burial areas of three or more people long were a big part of Ott Monument Works’ business, but that isn’t the case anymore, Ott-Thompson said. V.J. Tramonte of Joe Tramonte Realty was the listing agent. Davy Herrin and George Liberato were selling agents. Stay tuned. Fashion flash: In other island business departure news, Katherine Pompa, owner of Ha.Ba’s Women’s Boutique, 2213 Postoffice St. in the island’s downtown, posted plans for the shop’s closure in September. Pompa, who couldn’t immediately be reached for comment posted: “With much prayer and consideration, I have made the decision to close the storefront chapter of Ha.Ba’s and step into a new season of life. Ha.Ba’s has been part of downtown Galveston’s fashion scene for 22 years. Then mother of 2-year-old twins, Pompa in the fall of 2021 acquired the boutique from Monica Barry, who at the time said she was looking forward to retirement. “For now, the doors remain open,” Pompa said in the social media post. “I hope you’ll continue to stop by, shop with us, share a memory, or simply come say hello,” she wrote. “I would love to see you, hug you, and thank you in person. Stay tuned for a better timeline as we navigate now until September together.” How convenient: Santa Fe soon will be home to a $1 million Roadtrac, a fast-growing convenience store chain headquartered in Houston. Social media site Coming Soon Texas reports the Santa Fe Roadtrac will rise at 11120 FM 1764. The project features a 4,650-square-foot convenience store along with a 1,000-square-foot space reserved for a future retail tenant. Construction is scheduled to begin on Oct. 1, 2026, with completion targeted exactly a year later, according to Coming Soon Texas. Buzz blooper: Meanwhile, this column erred by buzzing Michael and Ashley Cordray were behind Cedar & Suede, described on social media as a neighborhood bar and pizza spot, 916 Ave. M in Galveston. Marketing representatives for the venture this week said it was too soon to identify the owners and that contrary to social media reports, Cedar & Suede won’t be open this month. Meanwhile, the Secretary of State lists the applicant for the business as Brotherhood Hospitality LLC. Stay tuned and look next week to find out what the Cordrays really are doing on the island.