Both the Augusta Metro and Columbia County Chambers of Commerce ushered in the grand opening of the Parker’s Kitchen on Mike Padgett Highway on Thursday, June 13.
President CEO Greg Parker, who founded the convenience store chain in 1976, was joined by Mayor Garnett Johnson at the ribbon-cutting festivities. Staff gave out free chicken tenders and drink cups, highlighting the store’s namesake and the wide food selection of its reputation.
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“We’re going to be great community partners,” said Parker to the crowd of visitors, which included several members of both chambers, touting the company’s charitable efforts, including its $2 million in donations to schools in Georgia and South Carolina and $5 million to Roper St. Francis Healthcare in Charleston, S.C. to aid the uninsured and underinsured. “When we open a store like this, what we’re saying to our competitors here is you better step up your game.”
The south Augusta location, which opened in May, sits at an intersection of Tobacco Road and Mike Padgett Highway, across from a Circle K. The store is the first Parker’s Kitchen that has opened in Augusta and the third that has opened in the CSRA, with locations in North Augusta and Aiken, both on Jefferson Davis Highway.
These three sites are the beginning of a $225 million plan to develop more than 20 stores in the region. Other locations are planned for Windsor Spring and Wheeler Roads. Last year the Augusta Commission’s consideration to rezone the Wheeler Road location drew opposition from residents.
Parker says the new store opening will give the store chain a chance to prove itself to locals.
“Measure us by what we do,” he said, noting the company’s recent placement among the Top 10 Best Places to Work by USA Today. “I would like for anybody who questions who we are to visit and determine for themselves if we deserve their patronage. We want the right to earn it.”
Parker’s Kitchen is located at 3661 Mike Padgett Highway.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
