Here is a peek at our past and beginnings. We would not still be in business if not for the hard work of my late brother Lane and our amazing team of employees - past and present and our trusting customers
Thank you - Jamie
Jeff Hullinger 11Alive is at Clairmont Road.
February 22 at 7:30 AM · Atlanta, GA ·
Driving along Clairmont Road, near PDK Airport—I was stopped by a signal red light.
My eyes locked on to an empty familiar brick building across the traffic lanes.
An Atlanta business with a history.
A small shop with a big impact beginning on Peachtree Road 65 years ago.
“Because of my parents, many comment on the age of our business and it’s place in the community,” said Jamie Norman who now runs his late father’s business Norman’s Electronics. Along with his late brother Lane, the two Norman boys picked up for their father.
Rooted in Georgia since 1955—Norman’s Electronics surges with each generation.
Swainsboro native Elnathan Hawes “E.H.” Norman served his country during World War II
While In the Pacific theatre, Mr. Norman was a U.S. Army welding instructor repairing tanks.
After the war, he came home to Atlanta, courted and married Lydia Cheshire in 1947.
The Cheshire family is one of the city’s most famous bloodlines (Cheshire Bridge Road) dating back to the early 1800’s.
“My mom grew up on Cheshire Bridge Road, her father James was born in the house where the Colonnade Restaurant is now, my grandparents were the first to marry in Rock Spring Presbyterian (1922),” added Jamie
Taking advantage of the GI Bill, Mr. Norman entered trade school in the late 1940’s learning electronics.
He worked for Lockheed in Marietta and General Motors in Doraville.
“He was fixing TVs out of his garage while he was working at GM and helped install and maintain the conniver system for the assembly line at Lockheed,” Jamie revealed.
E.H. Norman had entrepreneurial dreams, he wanted to open a small electronics business near his Brookhaven home but he needed financial backing.
Mr. Norman called on an Atlanta friend, a World War II South Pacific veteran, and a man who was a brilliant small Atlanta businessman, the legendary Red Tindol.
Mr. Tindol was a creative and innovative force of post World War II Atlanta, a member of the Pest Control and Small Business Hall of Fame, Tindol Pest Control (Allgood).
The two former soldiers who fought the Japanese hit it off and became partners for awhile.
“ My father knew what he wanted to do and made the most of his abilities and connections.”
Norman’s Electronics resided in Brookhaven 18 years
“Our first location in 1955 was where the Marta Station stands. and then we moved across the street in 1973 where the McDonald’s was erected.”
The timing toward post war success was perfect.
Television was dominating America and every family in Atlanta had a Zenith, Motorola, Curtis Mathis or an RCA.
The televisions of the era had tubes and burned out often.
The consoles were too heavy to move and bring to shop, so Norman’s Electronics had a fleet of mobile repairman.
The business was booming, Mr. Norman now had 40 employees.
Norman’s Electronics also sold television/HiFi’s and the first color TVs in the city.
And it was one of only three locations where Atlanta teenagers could buy Rock-in-Roll Records.
If you loved Elvis, Chuck Berry or Buddy Holly, Brookhaven and Norman’s Electronics was your place.
The cutting edge of Atlanta pop culture was led in part by a former U.S. Army tank welding instructor named Elnathan.
When the television sets stopped working inside the Georgia Governor’s Mansion, Norman’s Electronics would mobilize their repair team to help the Governor watch Walter Cronkite, Jim Axel, Guy Sharpe and Bill Hartman.
Governor Busbee and Mr. Norman became great friends.
After leaving office, The 77th Governor of the State of Georgia would drop by the shop and talk for hours with Mr. Norman.
“When dad passed in 1998, Mrs. Busbee called and told me how sorry she was.”
Georgia Tech Athletics Director Dr. Homer Rice was a customer as was fabled Atlanta restaurateur and adventurer Dante Stephenson.
Mr. Norman repaired Atlanta televisions, HiFi’s, and made famous friends.
Hall of Famer and Braves legend Eddie Mathews would join the Norman family Sundays for Grandmother Cheshire’s famous fried chicken.
Grandmother’s home was located at Cheshire Bridge Road and Lavista where the Varsity Jr. once stood.
“ We repaired a Nakmaichi for Yul Brynner when he was performing “The King and I” at the Fox Theatre. He used it in his dressing room. He was so happy it was done quickly that he gave us 4 tickets,” recalled Jamie.
I bought and sold an Intown 1987 home, sadly, my television and stereo receiver didn’t fare well in the move.
Mr. Norman fixed both on the spot at his Clairmont Road location.
Norman’s Electronics was in Chamblee for 30 years.
The business is still rolling in 2020 with 15 employees led by Mr. Norman’s son Jamie in Suwanee.
“My father wanted all customers all treated the same no matter how much they had or didn’t have.”
E.H. Norman died in 1998, his wife Lydia in 2006.
Storied, small, and ancient Atlanta businesses still are resonating with the community-- Bennie’s Shoes, Manuel’s, The Busy Bee, The Colonnade, Atkins Park and of course, Norman’s Electronics—the Norman family wouldn’t have it any other way.
We repaired this client’s Pioneer “silver face” system. All made between 1975 and 1978. An
Integrated amp SA-9100, Tuner TX-6500II and CT-F500 cassette deck. All are solid units and sound amazing together. The amp looks beautiful and weighs 30 lbs and has 60 watts a channel. It’s has a ton of tone controls and options.
We repaired a NAD 3140 intergraded amp. It was made from 1981-1983 and is a great sounding amp for its size. It’s rated at 40 watts per channel channel. It has great separation and a lot of punch for 40 watts.
A client from South Carolina shipped in a Scott 683DM cassette deck for repair. The belts had deteriorated to goo but we were able to remove the old rubber residue and find new belts and get it going again. The customer has the entire system that he bought in Europe when in the service and is excited to have this part of it the system working again. This model was made in the early 80s.
We recently repaired this Pioneer reverberation amplifier model SR-9 for a client from Columbus, Ga. This model was made in the early 80s (82-83) The SR-9 was an easy way to simulate the acoustics of any size room and to add ambience. It had a cool display that pulsates in time to the varying decay response. It is as eye-catching as it is functional.
The original owner of this beautiful McIntosh MC2120, who brought it into be serviced, told us, he was walking by a store in Birmingham and heard this great jazz and wanted to see the band. He finds out, there was no band, just a MC2120 being demonstrated. That was in 1982. He has loved it ever since.
It’s a powerful 120 watts per channel into 8Ω (stereo), 240 watts into 8Ω (mono) and weighs about 60 pounds.
We had a client bring in a Pioneer SX-727 receiver and a Technics SL-1200 turntable. Both are from the early 70s & are now running great. The SX-727 was made from ‘72-‘74. It has the classics Pioneer silver face and wood cabinet. It can handle 2 tape decks, 2 turntables and 3 sets of speakers. The SL-1200 is the first generation of the popular DJ turntable that has versions still being sold today. It features a servo controlled direct drive motor. We had them running and testing together with a Van Halen LP at the front counter. Many comments were made on the equipment and the album.
We repaired this beautiful Pioneer PL-570X Turntable. Quartz lock direct drive motor and fully automatic. It was made in made from 1977-1978 and weighs 30 pounds. This black base version was only sold over seas. This client’s father bought it Japan while in the service.
What was cutting edge in the late 70s/early 80s is now vintage. Below is our business card from that era and for our 65th anniversary, we have created T-shirts with that now vintage look. If you would like one, please message us for details!
We recently repaired this Kenwood receiver. This is the KR-6160. It was made in 1970 and is 70 watts a channel. Similar to other receivers of this era, it has the wooden cabinet and silver face but it adds the black tuner dial and a slide balance control. It has 2 phono & 2 auxiliary inputs plus a tape input. It also gives options to drive 3 sets of speakers in combinations of two; a feature more common on much larger receivers. 
We repaired this classic Nakamichi RX-202. It has their unique uni-direction auto-reverse mechanism. This unit was made from 1982-1993 and is a very high tech cassette deck.
We recently repaired this Pioneer SX-850. It was made from 76-78 and has 65 watts of power. Has the classic mid 70s Pioneer silver front and wood case.
We serviced this Onkyo M506RS power amp and P306RS pre amp. Sold in the early 80s the amp has 150 watts per channel and the great looking VU meters. It weighs just under 50 pounds. The pre amp has many user friendly controls including a rare cartridge selector control to choose the impedance of your moving coil or moving magnet cartridge.
We recently repaired this beautiful McIntosh MAC4100 receiver. A very high tech unit for 1978. It has 75 watts per channel and weighs in at 45 pounds.
We repaired this Technics SA-8500X quad receiver. Made in 1975 it has a great looking front panel with a ton of controls and a bright display. It has 80 watts a channel in stereo mode and weighs almost 40 pounds. The customer was thrilled to have it working again.
We repaired this Pioneer SPEC-2 power amp. A powerhouse amp that was made from 1976-1980. 250 watts per channel and weighs 53 pounds. We also repaired the SPEC-2 pre amp for the same client.
