In a recent interview, Greg Parker called the idea of writing a biography “a little selfish.” His 50-year journey as CEO and founder of Parker’s Kitchen did not stem from a plan he developed many years ago. In fact, in 2011, he told the Savannah Morning News that his law school dreams didn’t come to fruition, leading him to explore another path.
“I’ve gotten smarter over the years,” he said. The lessons he learned are revealed in the stories of his journey to becoming the head of a successful business with nearly 100 locations in Georgia and South Carolina.
Some of his stories reflect the educators who inspired him (and thus his organization’s educational philanthropy); the decision to open “Fancy” Parker’s Market, 222 Drayton St., in 1999, against the advice of almost everyone he knew; chairing convenience store industry committees; and take on the state of Georgia to save its customers money through Parker Rewards Program.
His wealth of knowledge and experience has helped him tailor key advice for young (or old) entrepreneurs, but they are also useful in life.
Read more about Parker’s journey from 2011:Ambitious, Innovative Leadership Fuels Parker’s Success (Archives)
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Build an advisory board
He recommended a collaborative approach to leadership and life, advising people to surround themselves with “the best minds” whose knowledge and influence improve decision-making.
He suggested that even children should learn to identify people who can influence their development and learning. For entrepreneurs, he believes this practice should be applied both internally and externally. He cited his 15 years working with Allison Hersch of Capricorn Communications as an example of an outside advisor whose specialties informed him.
He attributed his collaborative nature to his time as a second negative on his debate team at Vidalia High School, which won the state championship in 1971. The second negative is the last person to speak after the others have presented their arguments. Parker has since become adept at absorbing the perspectives of others.
Invest in your team
Part of building an internal team of advisors for Parker is creating opportunities for its employees, through training and promotions.
“Educate them, find them peers they can talk to,” he said.
At this point, he mentioned Brandon Hofmann, chairman of Parker and Parker’s successor as the next CEO. Parker hired Hofmann when he was 19 years old. He had gone from high school to the military, then started as a night clerk at Parker’s Store Number 17 in Hinesville, Georgia. “And there are a lot of Brandons,” Parker said of longtime employees, many of whom worked their way up to management positions over 30 years or more in his organization. Some of them were present at its first store in Midway, Ga., like Amy Lane, senior vice president of special projects.
Become the best at what you do
“I think you have to know more about what you’re doing than anyone else,” Parker said. He advises people to become experts in their chosen fields. In 2008, he became vice president of research for the National Association of Convenience Stores. A fortuitous role that allowed him to see the full extent of the metrics of “corporate CEOs, corporate marketing executives, bankers, M&A specialists, insurance companies and all that.”
With all this information, he realized that major credit card companies like MasterCard and Visa were making more revenue from convenience stores processing credit transactions “than we were making in our stores as a whole.” Parker said the discovery drove him “crazy.” Rather than get angry, he armed himself with new knowledge and created his Parker’s PumpPal debit rewards program. Other convenience store chains later adopted similar store-specific debit card offerings.
Persevere
Although the advisors’ input was key to his success, there were times when he strayed from the advice. Early on in its rewards program, Parker advertised PumpPal prices alongside regular gas prices, showing the discount to benefit customers. Initially he was allowed to do so. Then the Georgia Agricultural Commission, which oversees gasoline fuel licensing and inspections, blocked his ability to do so. He then sued and won. The program now has more than 300,000 members.
He also went against the advice of others by deciding to purchase “Fancy” Parker’s Market, which at the time was an abandoned auto center. Parker said homeless people lived in the building, which was dilapidated. He bought it and restored it. Although it was one of Parker’s most popular locations, it took him a while to figure out what worked. “I had fresh meat, fish that you could buy here. Then I started cooking partially cooked food that you could cook at home,” he said. Customers didn’t buy it. He even considered making his own ice cream at the store. Customers haven’t adopted it either.
Much of his and the stores’ success is based on trial and error. With each failure, he continued.
2011 PumpPal Lawsuit:Parker defends PumpPal savings (according to archives)
Give back
Finally, Parker wholeheartedly advocates giving back through charitable donations. He recently presented a $100,000 check to the Savannah-Chatham County public school system through his Powering the community campaign. THE Parker Community Fund regularly gives to Union mission, Second American harvest in Georgia, Lowcountry Food Bank of South Carolina and the Wounded Warrior project.
His main reason for making philanthropic donations is to build a stronger community. He and his organizations do this by empowering people through education, tackling fundamental challenges like hunger, mental illness and homelessness, and retaining talented people.
Parker ended the interview with this view of himself: “I’m really not exceptional. I wasn’t the smartest person, the most strategic person, but what I had was a lot of perseverance…and I think I was very lucky because I I’m surrounded by incredible people.”
Joseph Schwartzburt is the education and workforce development reporter for the Savannah Morning News. You can reach him at JSchwartzburt@gannett.com and @jschwartstory84 on X.com.