JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Only on Action News Jax, we are hearing from the CEO & President of Jenkins Quality Barbecue about the local restaurant’s recent decision to shut down after 68 years in business.
We first brought you news of the closure yesterday.
In a one-on-one with Action News Jax’s Madison Foglio, Meltonia Jenkins May shares that the past four years have been rough for them.
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“After COVID, things just started going south,” said May. “We don’t have the same volume of customers at all. And with the customers going down and the cost of food and labor going up, there’s not much else we can do.”
May first started working at Jenkins Quality Barbecue when she was 13 years old. Her father opened the chain’s first location in 1957 in Jacksonville’s northside. She returned to the family business full-time in the late 1980s at her father’s request. She tells me another challenge they have been dealing with involves supply chain issues.
“At one point, the supply chain was just so bad we could hardly get the things that we needed...for the sauces or anything else,” said May. “We were scurrying all over the country just to try to find ingredients to make the sauce.”
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Smaller chains, like Jenkins, can often have difficulties sourcing the supplies and ingredients they need when competing with larger, national brands.
“It is hard being a mom and pop because we don’t have what they call an economy of scales; there’s only so much you can have,” said May.
“Although she’s sad to close up shop, she says she’s proud of the work they’ve done.
“We’re grateful to everybody who has ever come to Jenkins barbecue,” said May. “And we thank them.”
Doors officially close September 30th.
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