Danny Fulgencio, Photographer

Mark Cox, left, started Cox Farms Market 23 years ago, right before son Cameron, right, was born. Cameron Cox will manage the new store at Sylvan Thirty. Photo by Danny Fulgencio

Mark Cox opened Cox Farms Market in Duncanville when he and his wife were expecting their first son, Cameron, in 1991.

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“It’s what he knew,” Cameron says.

Cameron, now 22 and a college graduate, will serve as the new store’s manager. He’s a fourth-generation grocer.

“My great grandfather, he was a hustler,” Cameron says.

Mark Cox’s grandfather, who raised him, fixed up old cars to flip, and he made a living as a middleman between farmers and grocers. Driving around to farms from Texas to California, he would load up his truck with fruits and vegetables and sell them by the bushel to small town grocers. And sometimes, he set up roadside produce stands.

That’s how Mark Cox came up in the grocery trade, buying okra and tomatoes from farmers and reselling them to small grocers. Eventually, he started selling large orders of produce to supermarkets, but soon after, started his own business.

Mark Cox maintains relationships with farmers, some of whom he has worked with since he was 15.

“A lot of it is his direct relationships with people,” Cameron Cox says.

Cox Farms Market at Sylvan Thirty hosts its grand opening at 10 a.m. today.