JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — When Corey Hunt walked into Paschal Brothers in 1998, he wasn’t thinking about putting his name on the building.
He was learning where to put the trash.
“When I started, I took out trash, I swept the floors, and I’ve made some deliveries,” Hunt said. “Those were my first tasks.”
He was 20 years old, starting a job in a business he knew little about.
“I didn’t know a nut from a bolt from a screw. I didn’t know anything,” he said. “So I came in completely green.”
Nearly three decades later, Hunt owns the business. The longtime Jacksonville hardware store is now Hunt Lumber & Supply, beginning a new chapter at Myrtle Avenue and Kings Road while carrying forward a history that dates to 1924.
The name is different. The building is getting a makeover. But Hunt says the people behind the counter — and their willingness to help customers figure out a problem — remain central to the business.
His slogan puts it simply: “Same Team, New Dream.”
A business education from both sides of the counter
Hunt credits Larry Paschal with giving him his start.
“He’s the one that hired me, and I worked real hard for him,” Hunt said.
Sweeping floors and taking out trash gradually led to more responsibility. When Larry’s brother, Bo Paschal, returned to work at the business in 2004, Hunt said, he recognized what Hunt had been doing.
But some of Hunt’s most useful lessons came from people walking through the front door.
Experienced plumbers realized the young employee was still learning. Rather than simply asking for a part and leaving, they took him along as they gathered supplies.
“They would take me back there with them and tell me what these items are used for and how to do different things and how to troubleshoot different things,” Hunt said.
Those exchanges taught him more than the names of fittings and fasteners. They helped establish the relationships he now sees as one of the store’s greatest strengths.
“They’re just folks trying to make a living, but they become friends after so long,” he said.
A familiar stop for generations
For customer Isaiah Thomas, the store’s connection to the neighborhood goes back to childhood.
“I’ve been going here for years since I was a child,” Thomas said.
He sees the business as a practical resource for people who need supplies close to home.
“Well, basically, it’s an area where people need stuff, and it’s right here in our community, and we come right here and get it,” he said.
Then he offered his own description of what can happen when a neighborhood loses easy access to tools and repair supplies.
“I mean, most places is food deserts. We got hardware deserts, too.”
Longtime customer Hattie Cason also values having the store nearby.
“It’s convenient. It’s convenient for us senior citizens, and it’s convenient for everybody because it’s been here for years,” Cason said.
For Thomas, service is another reason to return.
“They get up, they help you, they go around, show you what you need and all that,” he said.
Helping customers solve the problem
A small part can create a big headache when a customer doesn’t know its name, size or purpose.
Hunt says helping people work through those questions is a major reason the business has survived alongside larger competitors.
“If you need help with a project, we’ll sit back there in the plumbing department or the electrical department and help you troubleshoot that thing and get everything that you need to get your project done instead of you just shopping back there alone,” he said.
Hunt emphasizes that employees are not licensed plumbers or electricians. Their role is to help customers understand the supplies and find what they need.
He also listens when someone asks for an item the store doesn’t carry.
“If a customer asks us for something, we don’t have it, we take that seriously whether we need to put it in stock or not,” he said.
That approach has helped shape the store’s growth.
From a horseshoe counter to a larger operation
Hunt can still point to where the old horseshoe-shaped counter stood when he started.
Customers would approach the counter and explain what they needed. Employees often retrieved the plumbing, electrical and fastening supplies from the back.
The counter arrangement changed in 2007. Later, the hardware store expanded into space formerly occupied by Dixie Pharmacy.
“It tripled our square footage,” Hunt said.
Another significant change came in 2013, when the business took over the neighboring Shaw lumber operation.
The two businesses already served many of the same customers. Someone buying hardware might walk around to purchase lumber, while lumber customers came to Paschal Brothers for other supplies.
Combining the operations was a natural fit, Hunt said.
Today, the lumber yard is another focus of investment. New cantilever racks have moved lumber off the ground and created more storage capacity, with cover offering some protection from the weather.
Hunt says employees also help select and load customers’ lumber.
“If you come and buy lumber from us, our guys will come and get it, make sure it’s good stuff and load it on your truck,” he said.
The company has two flatbed trucks and offers delivery across Northeast Florida.
A new look — and a broader future
The building’s exterior is changing, too.
Hunt said a city grant is helping fund painting. Faced with stucco that needed repairs, he decided to remove it and expose the brick underneath before proceeding with the exterior work.
Inside and out, the improvements are part of a larger effort to prepare the business for its next chapter.
The new name reflects that ambition.
“The hardware store will always be here. That’s not going to change,” Hunt said.
Alongside the neighborhood retail business, he wants to attract more commercial and industrial customers who need building materials, supplies and delivery.
And he is making that push with a familiar staff.
“Everybody that worked here for the Pascals stayed on,” Hunt said. “There was no turnover.”
Taking ownership of a business with more than a century of history comes with pressure. Asked about that responsibility, Hunt’s first response was direct: “Don’t blow it.”
But he also knows how much of his own life he has invested in the store — and how much the business means to its customers.
“I own a legacy company that I’ve worked for for almost 30 years of my life,” he said. “I take a lot of pride in what I did for the Pascals and I’m gonna continue that same work ethic with it being my own company.”
His goal reaches well beyond a new sign.
“The Pascals did a great job for 102 years and I’m trying to position myself for the next 100 years,” Hunt said.
Grand opening celebration
- Hunt Lumber & Supply will hold a grand opening celebration Nov. 13, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
- The business is located at 118 Myrtle Ave. N., at Kings Road, in Jacksonville’s Rail Yard District.
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<
[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]
[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]
Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.