Have you ever wondered about the history of Norm’s on Main Street in Newton? How Norm’s came to be from Back Alley Pizza, what Norm’s was like during COVID-19, to now?
Back in 2017, Ashleigh (current director of Norm’s) was working at the Norm’s location that was in Back Alley Pizza. Back Alley and Norm’s ran their businesses in the same building. The owner of Back Alley (and Norm’s at the time), Robert Palmer, had mentioned having an interest in separating Norm’s from Back Alley. Ashleigh told her parents, Tami (director of So Shine Foundation) and Chris (who is on the So Shine Board of Directors), about this and they met with Robert in late January of 2017 about this interest.
Tami and Chris decided to run with the project. They found the building (current Norm’s on Main Street) and a contractor with a vision to rehab the building. Regier Construction completed the complete renovation project in July 2017, and Norm’s opened for business on July 31, 2017!
Although the transition was good for the community, it was a hard transition for some customers.
“Some faithful Norm’s customers transitioned easily, while others did not. I think we ultimately won everyone over - but for the life of me I still don’t understand why some struggled so much with the ‘can’t have coffee with my pizza!?!?’ challenge,” Director of So Shine, Tami Lakey said.
Ultimately, people transitioned to Norm’s being located on Main Street instead of in Back Alley, and the community got excited about the change. They were excited to have some rehab done to a Main Street building, but mostly to have some coffee goodness on the 600 block of downtown. The main difference from then to now would be the quietness in the building. Today, you can hear laughter and chatter from customers all around the store.
When Norm’s opened in 2017, the drink menu was nearly identical to how it is today. All the recipes for drinks are still the same as when Norm’s first opened back in 2011. The pastries have changed, though, because of different suppliers.
“Our savory menu is completely our own, as is the waffle menu. They are all my recipes (breakfast bierocks, casseroles - base waffle, and gravy). We got a few of our recipes gifted to us from friends of Norm’s (our Mennonite White Sauce is not our own),” Lakey said.
A few years after the Norm’s Main Street location opened, COVID-19 hit Newton and the world. Businesses were closing, people were wearing masks, there were restrictions on how many people could be in the building at a time. Norm’s followed all county guidelines and requirements.
Norm’s got to stay open, however, just having to close the dining room for a few months and eventually opening back up to half seating. It was a hard time for the Norm’s staff, though.
“Many days during that season it was just me and Ashleigh here working. We had to temporarily lay off our staff,” Lakey added in response to the downfalls of COVID.
Although COVID-19 was a hard time for the business of Norm’s, it was a good thing in the long run for So Shine Foundation as a whole to function.
“Ultimately I feel like COVID gave us a reset. We came back with Norm’s 2.0. We added a mobile espresso cart (The Mint Cup) that we used to serve the community for a few years. We also made the pivot for our after school program because of COVID - moving it to The Porch in February 2021. That led to us starting several other initiatives - including The Table, The Porch Pantry, and Sweet Peas Infant Feeding Pantry,” Lakey added in response to the benefits of COVID happening.
COVID-19 brought many good things in terms of initiatives, but the virus definitely affected the ways the the customers at Norm’s interacted with each other and with the community. This time for Norm’s was crucial in relationship building for the community.
“We had several faithful customers that didn’t come back until mid 2021 for their own health. But we did a lot of community engagement projects during COVID (like providing free fabric masks when there were NONE - handmade by a friend of Norm’s) that we built more of a good reputation in the community,” Lakey mentioned.
Overall, COVID provided Norm’s and So Shine a chance to show the community that they would always there for them, even in the hardest times.
“I would say that we have actually proven ourselves over these different seasons. People know who we are and what we value. We have always strived to provide Norm’s as a safe place for all. We have such a diverse customer base! Honestly - not everyone likes coffee, so we can’t always be all things to everyone - but I have met FEW people that have anything negative to say about us: our space, our menu, our staff, etc.,” Lakey added.
Not only did Norm’s prove themselves to the community, but the community proved themselves to Norm’s as well. The community continued to show support for the initiatives through So Shine by continuing to shop at Norm’s. The community at Norm’s is what makes it continue to function, even through all the different seasons it has been through during its history.
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