JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 For nearly 60 years, Carroll\u2019s Meat Shoppe has been a fixture in Jacksonville\u2019s Panama Park neighborhood, serving generations of families with affordable meat, friendly service, and a personal touch that has become increasingly rare.<\/p>\n
The family-owned business, founded in 1966 by Herman \u201cSmitty\u201d Schuman, will celebrate its 60th anniversary with a community celebration on July 3.<\/p>\n
>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Located in an area many residents consider a food desert, Carroll\u2019s has become more than just a butcher shop. For many customers, it\u2019s a neighborhood institution.<\/p>\n \u201cEverybody around here knows Carroll\u2019s,\u201d longtime customer Marvin Nance said. \u201cIt has everything you need and if they don\u2019t have it, they can order it. It\u2019s an all-around shop.\u201d<\/p>\n A Jacksonville institution<\/b><\/p>\n At 93 years old, Schuman still stops by the store about once a week. Looking back on nearly six decades in business, he credits one simple philosophy for Carroll\u2019s success.<\/p>\n \u201cService with a smile and be sure what you sell is good, is clean, fresh \u2014 that\u2019s the main thing,\u201d Schuman said.<\/p>\n Today, the store is operated by his grandson, John Rose, who is carrying on the traditions his grandfather established nearly 60 years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything is laid out the same, the same service and the same recipe that we have done for 60 years,\u201d Rose said. \u201cJust trying to follow in his footsteps. It\u2019s hard to do, but we\u2019re trying.\u201d<\/p>\n How Carroll\u2019s got its name<\/b><\/p>\n Even the store\u2019s name has a story behind it.<\/p>\n Rose said his grandfather was inspired during a trip to Chicago years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was in Chicago, saw a small store that said Carroll\u2019s Meat Shoppe and it caught his eye,\u201d Rose said. \u201cHe thought, \u2018I\u2019m going to open one of those in Jacksonville.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The name stuck \u2014 and so did the business.<\/p>\n Affordable food in a food desert<\/b><\/p>\n Customers say one of the reasons Carroll\u2019s has remained successful is its ability to offer quality products at affordable prices.<\/p>\n From family packs of ribs and fresh pork chops to chicken, ground beef and seafood specials, shoppers continue to find bargains that are increasingly difficult to find elsewhere.<\/p>\n One of the store\u2019s most popular specials is five pounds of crab legs for less than $40.<\/p>\n Others have their own favorites.<\/p>\n \u201cThe hot dogs \u2014 the best hot dogs \u2014 and when they\u2019re gone, they\u2019re gone,\u201d customer Priscilla Hatch said.<\/p>\n Employees become family<\/b><\/p>\n Part of what keeps customers returning is the staff.<\/p>\n Carolyn Moran has worked at Carroll\u2019s for 29 years and says the people are what make the job special.<\/p>\n [SIGN UP: <\/b>Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter<\/b><\/a>] <\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe people, the customers, they are very nice,\u201d Moran said. \u201cI\u2019m just a person who loves customers, so my thing is customer service. It\u2019s a great place to work.\u201d<\/p>\n Foster Bryant has been with the company even longer \u2014 53 years.<\/p>\n \u201cAs a round man, I can run the counter, I can do this, the meat grinder, run the back room, and if they need anything, I can cut it,\u201d Bryant said.<\/p>\n Celebrating 60 years<\/b><\/p>\n As Jacksonville continues to grow and change, Carroll\u2019s Meat Shoppe remains much as it was decades ago \u2014 a place where customers are greeted by name, employees know their regulars, and quality and service still matter.<\/p>\n To thank the community that has supported the business for nearly six decades, Carroll\u2019s plans to host a major Fourth of July anniversary celebration on July 3 featuring food, music, special sales, and activities for customers.<\/p>\n [DOWNLOAD: <\/b>Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks<\/b><\/a>]<\/b><\/p>\n For Schuman, Rose and the employees who have spent years behind the counter, the milestone is about more than longevity.<\/p>\n It\u2019s about continuing a tradition that has helped feed a neighborhood \u2014 and bring people together \u2014 for nearly 60 years.<\/p>\n Click here<\/b><\/a> to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and <\/b>click here<\/b><\/a> to stream Action News Jax live.<\/b><\/p>\n Action News Jax Top Stories<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 For nearly 60 years, Carroll\u2019s Meat Shoppe has been a fixture in Jacksonville\u2019s Panama Park…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":839936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5136],"tags":[12189,15619,5229,344016,344023,344022,344018,960,3188,723,344019,7310,2581,344021,425,344015,76534,344017,344020,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-839935","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-action_news","tag-action_news_jack","tag-america","tag-carols_meat_shop","tag-carolyn_moran","tag-carrolls","tag-carrolls_meat_shop","tag-chicago","tag-fl","tag-florida","tag-herman_smitty_schumann","tag-jacksonville","tag-john","tag-john_rose","tag-local","tag-panama_park","tag-phil_amato","tag-phil_amatto","tag-smitty","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116682558230797438","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839935","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=839935"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/839935\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/839936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=839935"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=839935"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=839935"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}