Palmer Industries History
A Yard Sale Spark
During a trip to New Hampshire, a brass bed purchased at a yard sale for $10 was stripped, polished, and resold through the Boston Globe for $100. That small profit revealed a viable business opportunity in brass restoration and resale.
Cambridge Storefronts
A brass refinishing and antiques business was established, with locations in Cambridge and Harvard Square. The operation developed expertise in refinishing and repairing brass, bronze, and silver, and eventually expanded into fabricating brand-new brass beds.
Return to Rhode Island
The business relocated to Providence, Rhode Island, where a brass specialty and antique store was opened alongside a metal refinishing operation in an offsite manufacturing facility. Around this time, reproduction hardware lines were introduced, beginning with Baldwin Hardware, and the store's inventory gradually shifted toward new reproduction brass items.
Peak Brass Era
Polished brass was at the height of its popularity, and Brassworks expanded accordingly, carrying Wesley Allen brass beds, a full Baldwin Hardware line, and a wide range of brass accessories including planters, candlesticks, hall trees, and lighting. The refinishing and fabrication facility was also in high demand, supplying brass railings, bar accents, and door hardware to the restaurant industry. Brass and glass fireplace doors, along with a broader line of fireplace products, were added during this period.
The Vanity Leg System is Born
A sales representative requested a custom chrome leg stand to support a marble-topped bathroom sink. Drawing on a decade of experience with brass railing fabrication, the request was fulfilled with ease. After producing several more by request, it became clear there was broader wholesale market potential for these vanity leg systems.
Palmer Industries is Founded
To bring the vanity leg system to market, a new wholesale business needed a name. Inspired by the founder's mother's maiden name, Palmieri, and a family variation of that name, Palmer Industries was established. The name carried a self-aware humor, as the company at the time had barely a single product. From that starting point, hundreds of improvements were made to the product, manufacturing process, catalog, packaging, and distribution network.
Edge Shelving, Closet Rods , and Towel Racks
The Edge Shelving collection originated from a client request in 2018 to adapt our sink leg components into a modular shelving solution. What began as a straightforward custom order quickly revealed broader potential, evolving into a versatile and enduring part of our collection. That same spirit of adaptation continued, giving rise to custom closet rods and systems crafted from solid brass tubing and fittings, as well as a line of wall mounted towel racks, all built from the same proprietary modular components at the heart of the Palmer lineup.
Kitchen Legs
Kitchen leg systems were a natural extension of the vanity and sink leg work already at the core of the Palmer catalog. The same components and engineering that defined those lines translated directly into the kitchen, where legs could be paired with base cabinetry and countertop materials to create island, peninsula, and bar configurations. Single legs or crossbar setups gave customers flexibility in how they built out their space, with many sink leg styles doing double duty as kitchen island legs.
Pot Racks and Gallery Rails
Pot racks were added to complement the kitchen leg systems and Edge shelving, rounding out the kitchen side of the catalog. Gallery rails followed as a separate addition, offering a configurable solution that could be sized and adapted for virtually any shelf or space throughout the home.
Furniture Feet
Palmer eventually expanded into furniture legs as well, offering modular components from the existing vanity and sink leg collections that could be adapted to pair with customers' own pieces. The ability to match finishes and styles to other architectural metalwork in the home made it a natural fit for those looking to bring a more cohesive, customized look to their interiors.
Foot Rails
Foot rails came out of the natural demand created by the bar and restaurant work Palmer was already doing. Custom built to fit bar and counter seating applications, they became a staple of the commercial side of the business while finding a place in residential installations as well.