This family business fed Miami for 41 years. Now Norman Brothers is closing for good
For 361 days a year, for the last 41 years, Norman Brothers Produce has fed Miami.
Chocolate-banana milkshakes for kids after school. Cranberry tuna salad for commuters’ lunches. Juicy barbecue to families on Sundays.
Always it was run by family, working every day of the year except for Thanksgiving, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day and Easter Sunday.
After one last weekend, the staff at Norman Brothers finally will rest.
The beloved Kendall-area farmers’ grocery store and farmers’ market, a business that has remained in the hands of family members since it was farmland tended to by two brothers, announced it will close Aug. 8, at 5 p.m., after agreeing to sell the property to a developer.
“It’s time,” said Suann Suggs, the general manager and part owner. “It’s bittersweet. We’ve had a very good run here.”
The Nelson family, which has owned the market since 1980, agreed to sell the property to developer Michael Garcia-Carrillo for what will become an elder-care facility and medical office building.
But Suggs, who spoke for the family, said there’s no reason to mourn the institution’s loss. Instead, it’s a moment to celebrate a family business that has provided for generations of family — and South Florida lovers of fresh food.
“Anyone in the food business will tell you it’s a very tough business,” Suggs said. “The customers who have been coming here their whole lives, who know us, they’re sad, but they understand.”
Brothers Billy and L.J. Norman had originally owned the property on Southwest 87th Avenue, just south of Sunset Drive. In 1978, they put up a stand to sell the produce they grew in farmland out back.
Meanwhile, another pair of South Dade farmers, David Nelson and Ken Graves, had been thinking of getting out of farming. They had been looking at buying a coin laundry on Flagler Street when they stopped off to visit the Normans on their way home. “Why not buy this market?” L.J. Norman asked Nelson.
So they did. Nelson and Graves paid $1.35 million for the land and store. Graves worked the farmland out back. And quickly, David Nelson started thinking about ways to use their store to feed the neighborhood booming around them.
“Dave, he had a lot of things he wanted to add,” recalled Suggs, who took a job at the market after her divorce and never left.
The store was always known for carrying fresh produce from Homestead farms: tomatoes, corn, celery, lettuce, beans, squash, strawberries, pumpkins, watermelon and citrus. When locals started to complain they couldn’t get fresh seafood out west, Dave Nelson added a seafood counter. When they did the same for specific cuts of meat, Norman Brothers added a butcher counter. And when they begged them to make fresh-baked breads and pastries, Nelson’s oldest son, Tim, took over the baking.
David and his wife, Marilyn — both now 81 and Miami High sweethearts — eventually bought out Graves and expanded Norman Brothers into what it is today. A $600,000 buildout in 1995 doubled the parking lot size, grew the building to 13,000 square feet and added the famous juice and milkshake bar — a treat that always has a line, no matter the time of day.
Even President Bill Clinton, in town to visit a newborn nephew in 1995, gave Norman’s one-day notice to cater an informal dinner for 60. (Guests feasted on Cajun chicken sandwiches on homemade egg rolls with cheese tortellini salad, tropical fruit salad and Norman’s double-chocolate walnut brownies.)
Norman’s would always involve family. The Nelsons’ daughter Kim Booth still buys all the produce. Sister Kelly Boyle purchases the specialty food. Their other sister, Teri Dickinson, handles the catering and gift baskets. Their late son Tim’s best friend, Bobby Hoffman, manages the meat department, while Suggs runs the business. Her son, Jay, is the head chef. And David Nelson’s granddaughter Jacqui Linton manages the bakery. The other two partners, Jonnie Kinnebrew, the seafood manager, and Tim Linton, a manager, all are like family.
“Nobody sits in an office. Everybody works,” Suggs said.
But every family business has its time. Suggs said there was not a third generation that wanted to continue the store. David and Marilyn’s grandchildren now include a lawyer, an engineer and a fishing boat captain, among others.
“The next generation, they had their own dreams,” Suggs said.
There was talk of Norman Brothers Produce reopening as a small market in the planned development, but Suggs said that’s unlikely.
All of the owners plan to be at the market on its last day, saying goodbye to longtime customers. The only one who may not attend is David Nelson, who is in the hospital for observation after contracting the coronavirus. Thankfully, Suggs said, he was vaccinated and the disease didn’t hit him as hard as it could have. (“This is a tough, tough disease,” Suggs said.)
They hope to all be together to celebrate what the market has meant to so many.
This story was originally published August 3, 2021 at 3:50 PM.
