After almost 41 years in business, Maters & Taters Market & Creamery will shut its doors soon, pending the sale of the property. 

Maters & Taters sits in a bright blue building on the intersection of North Park Avenue and East Summit Street, across from Apopka Memorial Middle School. Inside, guests can find produce and meat from California, Georgia, and beyond. 

“A lot of customers like coming here to get the produce because they say it stays fresher and tastes better than supermarkets’,” store manager Andy Ray said. 

Maters’ arrival on the real estate market is largely due to former owner Jeff Boyer’s unexpected death on Oct. 10, 2024. Boyer working at the produce stand during the turn of the century, alongside his brother, Jason Boyer. Jeff strove to unite convenience with quality. 

“That was really his dream—to be able to be a one-stop shop, to be in competition with all the big stores,” longtime employee Debbie Martin said. 

Martin credits Jeff Boyer for expanding the space and selection of his parents’ market. When Sherman and Marilyn Boyer opened the Apopka location in 1984, they closed their produce stands in Forest City and Winter Park. But the Apopka store only had a small bakery and rows of produce.  

“We didn’t have all the refrigerated cases,” Martin said. “Everything would have to come out of the cooler and be displayed in the morning and then picked up and put back in the cooler every night.” 

Jeff Boyer expanded the store’s selection by bringing in milk, meat and frozen vegetables. He also converted the building’s garage into an Amish ice cream parlor approximately five years ago, Martin said. Since the local schoolchildren were not allowed inside after classes let out each day, he also built ice cream and candy windows.  

But children were not their only ice cream customers. 

“The adults really bought as much or more ice cream than the kids did,” Martin said. 

On August 20, 2024, however, Jeff underwent heart surgery for his mitral and aortic valves, according to a GoFundMe for the Boyer family. 

“Jeff faced a complete heart blockage that caused him to have an abnormal heart rhythm, which resulted in him having a pacemaker placed,” GoFundMe organizer Kaitlynn Lovejoy said. “Jeff was in the ICU at AdventHealth for four weeks, then transitioned to PCU [progressive care unit].” 

Upon his discharge from PCU, Jeff lived at what is now Aviata at Rosewood, a rehabilitation center in northwest Orlando. He died after only one week. 

“When he died, that dream died,” Martin said. 

But Ray, Jeff’s stepson, wanted to keep it alive. After working for Maters for two years, Ray became the new manager. 

“His idea was to teach me to run the business,” Ray said. “He was going to retire, and him and my mom were going to travel.” 

Unfortunately, Jeff died before he could teach Ray the business, so Ray had to teach himself. After finding a Rolodex with all the vendors’ phone numbers, Ray called each one and asked how Jeff typically handled their orders. But the customer loss was hard to recover from. 

“When [Jeff’s] parents had it and they died, he lost customers, too, so he had to build the customer count back up,” Ray said. “But summertime is always slow, and it’s just hard to get everything back on track.” 

As a result, Maters no longer serves ice cream, and Ray expects Maters to close in the near future.  

“I don’t see it selling as another produce stand,” Martin said. “Being in a small business nowadays is very difficult, because there’s so much competition, and you can always go somewhere and get it cheaper — maybe not better, but cheaper.” 

Upon Maters’ closure, Ray said he might find another job in produce, while Martin is considering volunteer work. But both agree that the memories and relationships they have formed through Maters will be difficult to replace.  

The longtime customers who remember Sherman and Marilyn, for example, still talk about Marilyn’s banana bread, which she used to make with leftover bananas from the store. And Martin has also seen a new generation of Maters lovers grow up. 

“I’ve had moms that I’d seen come in when they were pregnant,” Martin said. “Now, just today, a mom came in and her son drove her here.” 

Customers will often recognize Maters employees outside of the store, as well. 

“One of my little middle school kids at church asked me the other day, ‘Miss Debbie, why is Maters & Taters closing?’” Martin said. “She was very disappointed.” 

Until Maters is officially sold, however, Martin and Ray will continue selling their Tennessee tomatoes, scuppernongs, and the other groceries customers crave. 

“We just gotta keep going till we can’t go no more,” Ray said. “Just keep on going.” 

Maters & Taters will be open from 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tue.-Fri. and from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. Sat. at 454 North Park Avenue until the property is sold.