CStore Decisions November 2020 Digital Edition is sponsored by Smuckers

The Savannah, Ga., chain is the 31st winner of the most prestigious award in the industry for convenience retailing.

It’s 10 a.m. on a Wednesday, and after 44 years in the industry, no one would blink if Parker’s Founder and CEO Greg Parker took some time off to enjoy a beautiful fall day in Savannah, Ga. But on this warm October morning, Parker is already an hour into training on how to use the company’s new foodservice fryers to ensure sure they are easy and safe to operate.

“It’s important to me to know our team has the best equipment available so they can do their jobs as effectively and as efficiently as possible,” Parker told me. “I’d never want our people to use equipment that I haven’t already tested and feel comfortable using.”

This kind of leadership is precisely why Parker’s has been one of the most successful chains in the industry for more than two decades. The industry’s leading chains all share the same winning characteristics: exceptional leadership, great stores and unsurpassed customer service. Parker’s embodies all of these hallmarks and so much more. Following these guiding principles, CStore Decisions is proud to honor Parker’s as the 2020 Convenience Store Chain of the Year.

The Chain of the Year Award showcases the best of the best in convenience retailing, and Parker’s is certainly deserving of its place in this rich tradition. As many industry marketers are struggling to reinvent themselves and to identify a strategy that will lead them into the future, Parker’s continues to blaze its own trail. The Georgia-based company operates 66 stores in Georgia and South Carolina and has aggressive plans to build 60 new-toindustry stores in 60 months. This aggressive growth would be impressive during normal times, but it’s even more impressive amid a global pandemic.