From Left to Right: Matthew Cox, Zach Gray, Dean Jones, Kristi Jones, Dennis Jones, and Charlie Reynolds. Not pictured: Brock Turner.

In 1958, while working at the Clover Creamery in Radford, Norman Jones met the love of his life, Blanche “Tenny” Mannon. The young couple married in 1961 and soon started a venture together that would become one of Radford’s longest lasting businesses. It had been Norman’s dream to start a custom cabinet company, and that dream was finally realized in July of 1965. Norman’s Cabinet and Woodworking Shop opened to the public that year on what was, at the time, First Street in Radford’s West End.
Norman’s began in a one-room showroom that featured one kitchen display, one desk, and a small carpentry shop at the back. At the time, the cabinet shop was located across the street from one of Radford’s core businesses, Central Lumber. With the abundant traffic the lumber store brought to the area, the location seemed perfect. Among the artifacts Norman’s still has from those early days are timecards for the first employees! The fifty cents to one dollar per hour they earned was decent pay for the late 1960’s.
Launching the business was tough on the Jonses, just starting life together with two young sons, aged two and four. When the business opened, both Norman and Tenny would work night and day. A little over a year after opening, they added a daughter in September of 1966, completing the family of five. When she could, Tenny would bring the kids into work with her so she could help in the store. In 1972, after all the kids were in school, she started working full-time.
Once Tenny joined the business, she became the new face of Norman’s. Norman was the craftsman, and Tenny was the friendly face that greeted everyone. She never met a stranger, and a wrong number could talk to her for twenty minutes!
For a little over a decade, Norman’s made custom cabinetry for local contractors and homeowners in the New River Valley. In the mid 1970’s, however, Norman’s decided to offer more than custom cabinets. Sometime around 1977, they decided to offer ‘factory made’ cabinets in addition to their custom creations. They added on to the building, and as time went by, the factory cabinets became a much larger part of the business. However, Norman’s was always known for quality, no matter which product was sold.
As with all family businesses, the entire family would eventually come to pitch in on the work and operations. They would sweep floors, sand shelves, and empty trash. All Norman had to do was pay them with candy and sodas. He loved that he could be with his family even while having to be at work.
Over the years, the business grew along with the kids. In 1979, the eldest son, Dean, started officially working in the store while still in high school. He would come to stock shelves after school. Later, he helped to build and install cabinets, learning the trade.
Younger son, Dennis, was put on the payroll after high school in 1981. He also stocked shelves and helping to build and install cabinets. Dennis enjoyed motor-cross riding and racing. In later years, however, he found a new passion in jet skiing, where he quickly learned that falling in water was much better than falling in dirt. After a few years at Norman’s, Dennis decided to leave the family business so he could follow his passion to open his own jet ski business at Claytor Lake.
Over the years, Norman’s started offering more products related to home improvement, such as paints and wallpaper. Eventually, paint grew into a much larger part of Norman’s than the Jonses would have imagined. With such a booming new facet to the business, Norman made the decision to change the name to Norman’s Cabinetry and Decorating Products.
Around that same time, Norman’s also started to offer picture framing. Norman and Tenny returned to their old schedule of working nights, constructing the frames in a shop they had built in their backyard. This quickly led to the realization that they needed to make more space at the business location. Thus, in 1984, Norman decided to invest in the largest expansion in the store’s history. The enlargement more than doubled the original size of the shop and showroom to the size it is today. It boasted over twenty kitchen and bath displays in addition to more room for paint, picture framing, and offices.
Norman’s continued to grow, and after graduating high school, daughter Denise joined the family business full-time. Denise became the go-to person for everything home décor, and like her mother, became another friendly face for the business.
As with any business, and especially a family business where parents and siblings work close together, day after day, there came times when one or more of the Jonses had to let off some steam and take a break. That’s why, over the years, all three of the Jones children, at one time or another, ‘quit’, just to return a couple of days later. It wasn’t until 2000 that Dean did leave to take a job in Roanoke. He went to work for a custom cabinet manufacturer in the customer service department. While there, Dean learned more about manufacturing cabinets, but more importantly, he learned how to better understand customer and employee needs. As time went by, he was promoted and headed the customer service department for several years. During those years, the hairs on his head became fewer and far between.
In 2002, Dennis decided to return to the family business, working as the picture framer. Since framing was a one-man operation, it tended to get lonely. To combat the loneliness, Dennis added a television to the frame shop, where he spent his days making frames while watching The Andy Griffith Show. They say Dennis knows more Andy Griffith trivia than anyone, and they dare you to challenge his knowledge of the show!
Over the next several years, Dennis began to transition into the cabinet shop and learned the day-to-day operations from his father. At the same time, Denise took over his role in picture framing and started crafting the frames herself.
Seeing their kids successfully taking on bigger roles in the business, it was around 2010 when Norman and Tenny began to contemplate retirement. They asked Dean to return to Norman’s, which he did in the fall of 2010. This allowed Tenny more freedom to work fewer hours and step away from the business. During this time, Denise also began transitioning away from the business and moved out of the area with her family.
With his sons taking on leadership roles at work, Norman was ready to retire, but not before taking Norman’s into its 50th year in 2015. It wasn’t long after that that Norman and Tenny officially retired. The business was then passed on to the next generation.
Seven years ago, Dean and Dennis took on the challenges of running the fifty-year-old family business. Dennis would head up the cabinet shop and installations while Dean would head up the design and showroom side of Norman’s. This decision worked out perfectly as Dennis enjoyed crafting cabinetry for customers and, as he joked, “not standing around socializing” – a trait he inherited from Norman. Dean preferred the opposite. Much like his mom, 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