Parker’s Kitchen is in permitting review for a gas station and convenience store at 7481 Wilson Blvd. at Old Middleburg Road in West Jacksonville, one of four sites that the Savannah, Georgia-based chain previously confirmed.
The 4,985-square-foot store is planned on a 1.87-acre site at an estimated construction project cost of $2.2 million.
HFA-AE Ltd. Inc. of Bentonville, Arkansas, is the applicant. It is an architecture and engineering firm.
Through DPC-FL LLC of Savannah, Drayton-Parker Cos. LLC bought the site Feb. 23, 2024, for $1.8 million. Drayton-Parker shares an address with The Parker Companies and Parker’s Kitchen.
The vacant parcel is at northeast Wilson Boulevard and Old Middleburg Road.
It is one of 10 identified sites in Northeast Florida for the gas station and convenience store chain that features Southern comfort food.
It has at least 102 stores in Georgia and South Carolina and is expanding into Jacksonville and into new markets in South Carolina.
The closest location to Jacksonville that is open is 32 miles north in Kingsland, Georgia.
Northeast Florida expansion
Parker’s Kitchen said in December 2024 that it expected to open at least four gas station and convenience stores in Northeast Florida by the third quarter of 2026. It said it was actively working on several more locations but that it was too early to publicize them.
“Jacksonville’s fast-growing population, robust economy and growing retail market make it an attractive region for expansion,” said Amanda Thompson, Parker’s Kitchen senior director of real estate and development, by email.
The company said the first four are:
• 7481 Wilson Blvd. at Old Middleburg Road in West Jacksonville in Duval County.
• 11205 Alta Drive north of Interstate 295 in North Jacksonville in Duval County.
• Blanding and Tanglewood boulevards in Orange Park in Clay County.
• 76010 William Burgess Blvd. in Wildlight in Yulee in Nassau County.
In total, there appear to be five in consideration in Duval County; three in Clay; and one each in Nassau and St. Johns.
Features Southern food
The ParkersKitchen.com menu includes biscuits baked daily on-site, catfish, grits, hash browns, sausage patties and gravy, chicken tenders, pork chops, pulled pork sandwiches, fried okra, breakfast burritos, lemonade and “Signature Chewy Ice.”
Parker’s Kitchen says it serves “world-famous hand-breaded Southern Fried Chicken Tenders as well as made-from-scratch mac ‘n’ cheese, a breakfast bar and daily specials.”
It employs nearly 1,800 people throughout Georgia and South Carolina.
Founder and CEO Greg Parker opened the first store in Midway, Georgia, in 1976.
An April 25, 2025, news release from Parker’s Kitchen says the company “is currently in the middle of an ambitious expansion and plans to expand into new markets including Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Jacksonville, Fla.; and Columbia, S.C.”