11 minute read
The Family Legacy of Norman’s Cabinetry..................6
Brock Turner
dean liked the design side of the business, interacting directly with customers and, as he says, “not working in the dusty, old shop.” during this transitional period, dean and dennis decided to restructure the business back to its roots by eliminating picture framing and focusing on cabinetry. specifically, their own custom-built cabinets. They continued offering factory cabinets as well but felt they could offer customers higher quality and more options in their own custom cabinet line. With the focus back on cabinets, they changed the name to Norman’s Cabinetry.
With the success of Norman’s moving back into mostly custom cabinetry, it became apparent that they needed to expand and to hire more staff. being a family business, it was obvious that they would turn to other family members. The solution was dennis’s wife, Kristi. Kristi had worked in the business in the past, but in 2015, she took on a full-time role in the showroom. she learned to mix paint and interact with customers. she often joked about the hardest part of the job was learning how to work with her brother-in-law, dean. it was a good thing they tended to get along with one another, so the transition went smoothly. The showroom added another designer, while the shop also expanded by adding two additional craftsmen. 2015 also marked the entry of the third generation into the family business. dean’s oldest son, ethan, joined for a couple of years, part-time in the showroom. his twin sons, gage and rhen, also took part. rhen assisted with creating shop drawings and gage later joined the business. For three years, gage worked in the shop full-time, learning from his uncle dennis how to build, finish, and install custom cabinetry. dennis’s daughters, Karli and emma, have also lent a hand in the shop and showroom from time to time, just like their father did when he was younger.
Over the next seven years, several new faces joined the team. in 2017, Charlotte, or “Charlie” as everyone knows her, joined the showroom, helping with sales and designing. since then, she has become Norman’s showroom Manager and new friendly face. in 2022, Charlie learned that she would become a new mom in december. in 2018, Matthew joined Norman’s, helping to build cabinets and make Cad drawings. he is now overseeing daily operations of the shop. Matthew, like Charlie, will also become a new parent in 2023! brock, the newest craftsman and a new dad, joined the team this year and has become an important part of the shop and install team. Zach, part time for now, plays a big part of the Norman’s shop family as well. he also fills in when they need an extra player for ping pong during breaks. each and every employee at Norman’s plays an important role in making dreams come true for their customers. even with the passing of Norman in 2021, you can feel confident that his dream continues to bring radford and the New river Valley the finest name in custom cabinetry, which after more than 57 years, is still “Custom Made in radford”.
Norman’s Cabinetry • Dean Jones • 540-639-1162 www.NormansInc.com • Dean@NormansInc.com 1116 West Main Street, Radford, VA
Katy Eilert, Marvin Luke Eilert, and Christine Eilert
A New Location for Lil’ Bit Corny Popped Up in Radford This Year
By Vickie Holt
Christine eilert grew up in rural northeast Ohio with her mom, dad, and younger brother, Mark. among the many memories from her childhood, Christine recalls when her parents would take her and Mark into Cleveland where they would visit one of the local popcorn shops. Popular in the area, Cleveland’s popcorn shops offered a full menu of flavored popcorns. Christine particularly loved the caramel popcorn, cherry flavored popcorn, and the popcorn balls! it’s a sweet memory for Christine, getting to go downtown, and having all the popcorn and candy. For a little kid, the atmosphere and the smells in the shops were magical.
When Christine grew older, she received an associate’s degree in Visual Communications from the art institute of Pittsburg. at the time, she worked at an art store, but greater opportunities were looming on the horizon. a co-worker from the art store had gotten a job at Cap toys, a division of hasbro. When a position opened in the art department, the co-worker recommended Christine. “i never expected i would end up working in the candy and toy industry!”
From 1995 to 1998, Christine worked as an artist assistant and graphic designer in the girls and candy research and development department. during her time in this position, she was a packaging designer for several candies. she even got to go to Cologne germany for a two-week trade show where she designed and set up the display for her company. The event was an international candy show, and she took the opportunity to learn about candies from all over the world. in 1998, Christine was recruited by impact Confections in roswell, New Mexico. Like an echo from the past, it was once again a co-worker who had recommended her. impact Confections did not have an art department, so when a co-worker who had already made the move from Cap to impact suggested the idea to the president of the company, Christine was hired to start one from scratch. in 1998, she quickly got to work, hired two more artists, and created the impact Confections art department. as a team, they created silver and bronze award-winning point-of-sale visual displays, which are the display units found in retail stores that shelve and display the products. in her position as research, development, and design with the company, she even had the opportunity to design the shapes of candies!
“it was such a fun job to have!” says Christine. “i learned a lot about how all kinds of candies get made. Lemon heads take two weeks!” in 2003, she moved to Colorado springs for a year to work in impact’s corporate division, designing award winning packaging, labels, signage, marketing materials, trade show booths. she also traveled abroad to many shows and conferences. it was in 2004, however, that her life would take a turn. by
this time, she had married Marvin Luke eilert, and after having her daughter, Katy, Christine wanted to stay home and be a mom. eight years earlier, Christine’s dad and stepmother had moved from their home in Ohio to the New river Valley. Wanting to be closer to family, the eilerts found a home in radford. For the first ten years, Christine continued as a stay-at-home mom while Marvin Luke worked with laying tile in the area.
Once Katy was older, however, Christine felt like she wanted to get back out there. unfortunately, there was no work to be found in her previous field, nearby. it was then that she hit upon the idea of opening her own business, one in which she could continue being creative. she wanted to rekindle her skills with creating logos, designs, packaging, and marketing. ideally, at least to get started, she also wanted something she could do from home. all that was left was to decide on a product. in many ways, radford, Virginia is very different from Cleveland, Ohio. The one difference that mattered to Christine, however, was that radford didn’t have any popcorn shops. she began experimenting on her own, using the candy-making knowledge she’d gained during her years with Cap toys and impact Confections. she also drew inspiration from her memories as a child in Cleveland. she began creating different popcorn and flavor combinations then took the results to radford university for the students to taste test. This provided great insight into what the public liked or disliked. They really liked the Lollipopcorns™. Most had never heard of or tried fruit flavored popcorn before, but they loved it!
Marvin Luke was also on board with the idea. together, they brainstormed and came up with the name Lil’ bit Corny. Christine then designed the logo and was ready to get down to business. she turned to sCOre for guidance to become a small business owner. sCOre is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping small businesses get off the ground, grow, and achieve their goals. armed with the visuals, the products, and the business savvy, Christine began taking Lil’ bit Corny to local festivals and events, as well as to the radford Farmer’s Market. The specialty popcorns were a big hit with folks in radford, but Christine thought it could be bigger. she created a Facebook page, as well as an instagram account, and was soon shipping Lil’ bit Corny products far and wide. it wasn’t long before she decided the time was right to open a brick-and-mortar location. in 2011, the eilerts opened a shop in West end radford. as Christine was still learning to be a business owner, she didn’t do much marketing at this point. Contributing to the gradual nature of the store opening was the fact that it was situated a little farther out, away from the downtown foot traffic. as it turned out, it was all for the best. The shop had to close a year later as Marvin Luke was offered a job at Quantico in northern Virginia. With a young daughter still at home, and travelling back and forth to see Marvin Luke, it just wasn’t possible to dedicate the time and attention necessary for the store. but that doesn’t mean Lil’ bit Corny was out of the picture. On a smaller scale, Christine continued making and selling her specialty popcorns from home. even when Marvin Luke www.RadfordMagazine.com
returned to radford in 2015, the couple continued delivering and shipping popcorn throughout the united states. From 2018 to 2022, Christine also worked as manager at sweet n’ savory bagels in radford. it was actually 2020 when the eilerts began thinking once again about opening a static location. after all, Lil’ bit Corny was more popular than ever, and the online business had really grown. unfortunately, 2020 was also the year that the pandemic hit, making it difficult for many existing businesses to stay open. it would have been risky to try and open a new business in such an environment. “We were terrified of this pandemic,” says Christine, “and the effects it had on everyone. We continued our homebase popcorn shop with customers thanking us for the orders that we shipped, as they were also stuck at home.” by 2022, things were getting back to normal. Marvin Luke was doing commercial plumbing and steam fitting with Varney Mechanical, based in roanoke. Meanwhile, the eilerts had completely outgrown their home popcorn business and Christine missed seeing her awesome customers! it was time, once again, to look for a location. everything happened in what seemed like a blink of an eye! in March of 2022, Christine found a vacant space available at 111 3rd avenue, right in the heart of downtown radford, in the same building as hodge Podge Cookies! “Perfect!” says Christine. “Popcorn and cookies in the same spot! a sweet shop for everyone!”
The space had been recently painted with bright colors and fitted with bright lights, so there wasn’t much more to be done. On april 4th, Lil’ bit Corny officially opened its new location, and the locals, many of whom had never seen popcorn this way, have fallen in love! “it’s a nice treat for them,” says Christine, “and it makes me happy to see our customers happy.”
Lil’ bit Corny offers over a hundred different flavors and varieties of popcorn, all non-gMO and gluten free. The candycoated popcorn is called Lollipopcorn™. it’s made from a special popcorn that is much larger and rounder than regular popcorn. The popped corn is then candy-coated with Christine’s own Lollipop candy coating. Though there are many different fruit flavors, the most popular is the mixed fruit rainbow colored popcorn. Then there are the caramel varieties, including classic caramel and sea salt caramel. New additions to this group are the honey butter Caramel and the Peanut butter Caramel. The kettle corns include Classic Kettle, honey kettle, Cinnamon sugar Kettle, Pumpkin spice Kettle, and spicy Kettle. The biggest seller, however, is the white cheddar! The White Cheddar popcorn is handmade with the finest white cheddar cheese available. The white cheddar is also used in almost all the savory flavors, including Jalapeño White Cheddar and buffalo ranch. specialty popcorns are made in small batches by hand. The eilerts start with their Lollipopcorn™, or their Caramels and Vanilla candy coated Popcorn, then add toppings like nuts, cookies, candies, Coconut, dried fruit, and more. The specialty popcorn is then coated with belgian White Chocolate, Milk Chocolate, or dark Chocolate. some of the most popular flavors are White Chocolate Peppermint, reese’s peanut butter cup, Cookies and Cream, and White Chocolate Cashew.
Christine is thrilled to have the new location up and running, but she wants to remind everyone that coming to the store and buying your favorite popcorn is not the only way to enjoy Lil’ bit Corny! They attend the radford and Christiansburg Farmers Markets from april through mid-October. They also vend at many festivals and events throughout the New river Valley, salem, and roanoke. They do fundraisers with schools, traveling sports teams, clubs, and more. They even make popcorn for corporate
