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Jacksonville’s Paschal Brothers becomes Hunt Lumber & Supply after 28-year employee takes ownership
Corey Hunt, who started at Paschal Brothers sweeping floors in 1998, now owns the Jacksonville hardware and lumber business, founded in 1924. The renamed store is updating its building and expanding its push to serve commercial customers while retaining its longtime staff and neighborhood focus.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A hardware store that has served Jacksonville since 1924 is entering a new chapter under Corey Hunt, a longtime employee who began there as a 20-year-old taking out the trash and making deliveries.
The business, formerly known as Paschal Brothers, is now Hunt Lumber & Supply. It operates at 118 Myrtle Ave. N., near Kings Road in the Rail Yard District. Hunt says the name and exterior are changing, but helping customers find supplies and work through repair projects will remain central to the store.
“When I started, I took out trash, I swept the floors, and I’ve made some deliveries,” Hunt said. He had little experience with hardware at first, he recalled, but learned on the job and from customers, including plumbers who showed him how materials were used and how to troubleshoot problems.
That hands-on assistance remains part of the store’s pitch. Hunt says staff can help customers identify supplies and plan projects, while making clear they are not licensed plumbers or electricians. The business also considers requests for products it does not stock, he said.
For longtime customers, the store is a nearby source of tools and building materials as well as a familiar place. Customer Isaiah Thomas, who has visited since childhood, described the neighborhood’s need for such businesses as a “hardware desert” problem. Hattie Cason said the location is convenient, particularly for older residents.
The operation has grown substantially over the years. Hunt said the store expanded into space once occupied by Dixie Pharmacy, tripling its floor area. In 2013, it took over the neighboring Shaw lumber business, combining two operations that already shared customers. The lumber yard has since added covered cantilever racks to increase storage, and the company uses two flatbed trucks to make deliveries across Northeast Florida.
Hunt is also pursuing more commercial and industrial customers, alongside the neighborhood retail business. A city grant is helping pay for exterior painting, and Hunt said the store is removing deteriorating stucco to expose the brick before the work proceeds.
The transition has kept the existing staff in place, Hunt said: employees who worked for the Paschal family stayed on after he took ownership. He described preserving the company’s legacy as a responsibility, saying his aim is to build on the work done by the family that ran it for 102 years.
Hunt Lumber & Supply plans a grand-opening celebration from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 13, 2026, at the store.