Parker’s Kitchen recently hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of its largest store to date, located in Kingsland, Ga. Local dignitaries in attendance included Kingsland Mayor Charles Grayson Day, Jr., Georgia House District 180 Representative Steven Sainz, Camden County Sheriff Jim Proctor and Camden County Chamber of Commerce President and CEO Alison Shores.
At the official ribbon cutting for the new Kingsland store, Parker’s Kitchen made a record $300,000 round-up campaign donation to Wounded Warrior Project (WWP) to support injured local veterans throughout the company’s corporate footprint. The company’s largest round-up donation to date supports the WWP Warriors to Work program, which provides veterans and their family members with the resources and assistance they need to be successful in the civilian workforce. Parker’s Kitchen matched 25% of all customer donations to amplify the impact. Wounded Warrior Project Chief Program Officer Jen Silva accepted the donation.
“We’re really humbled and grateful for this generous donation from Parker’s Kitchen,” said Silva. “Wounded Warrior Project provide a wide range of programs for everything from veterans employment and mental health counseling to hurricane relief for warriors and their families. We’re very grateful for this support.”
Parker’s Kitchen also made a $5,000 Fueling the Community donation to support Camden County Schools at the ribbon cutting. The company’s Fueling the Community charitable initiative donates a percentage of gas sold at all Parker’s Kitchen locations on the first Wednesday of each month to area schools. Since the inception of the Fueling the Community program in 2011, the company has donated more than $2 million to area schools across Georgia and South Carolina. Camden County Schools Executive Director of Finance Jennifer Brown accepted the donation on behalf of local teachers and students.
“At Parker’s Kitchen, we want to be a great community partner, to give back to the community in transformative ways and to be a force for positive change,” said Parker’s Kitchen founder and CEO Greg Parker. “We are incredibly honored to support area veterans who have given so much to our nation and to give back to local schools right here in Camden County.”
The company’s new store in Kingsland marks the southernmost Parker’s Kitchen location on I-95 and is part of the company’s ongoing expansion toward Jacksonville, Fla. The Kingsland store is part of a cluster of stores in the company’s construction pipeline designed to serve residents and visitors throughout the metro Jacksonville area and south Georgia.
“We’re thrilled to open our biggest Parker’s Kitchen store right here in Kingsland at the gateway to Florida on I-95,” Parker added. “We’re deeply honored to serve customers in Camden County and have a powerful commitment to elevating the convenience store experience while giving back to the community.”
The new Kingsland store offers 7,122 square feet of retail space and features larger retail, food, and checkout areas, along with expanded bathrooms. The 6.84-acre site includes parking for large commercial trucks as well as cars and offers three grades of unleaded fuel as well as ethanol-free fuel, diesel and high-flow diesel.
The company’s newest store features award-winning, Southern-style, made-from-scratch Parker’s Kitchen food for breakfast, lunch and dinner as well as indoor dining, popular grab-and-go food options and a hot bar with convenient electronic kiosk ordering. Popular items include fresh, never-frozen, antibiotic-free, hand-breaded Southern Fried Chicken Tenders, signature mac ‘n’ cheese, potato logs, the Parker’s Kitchen Spicy Chicken Tender Sandwich, freshly made salads and more.
The entire Parker’s Kitchen menu is handcrafted on-site from the freshest ingredients by local chefs who take pride in cooking for the communities where they live and work. Beverages include bean-to-cup gourmet coffee, freshly brewed sweet and unsweet tea, Fancy Lemonade, energy drinks, 28-degree beer and a wide range of fountain drinks with signature Parker’s Kitchen Chewy Ice.
Founded in Midway, Ga., in 1976, Parker’s Kitchen is currently in the middle of an ambitious expansion and plans to open 100 new stores over the next five years in new and existing markets, from Myrtle Beach, S.C. to Jacksonville, Fla.
Parker’s Kitchen employs more than 1,600 professionals throughout Georgia and South Carolina and completes more than a million transactions weekly. The company was named the 2020 CStore Decisions Chain of the Year.
