Starke residents got a taste of something new this month when Papa John’s Pizza opened its doors right in front of Walmart, and if the town’s reaction to the franchise’s parade entry was any indication, the community was more than ready.
“I couldn’t believe the people. The way we were received in the Starke community was huge,” said Nick Arturo, Director of Operations for Bajco Florida, the franchisee operating the new location. “Everybody was excited to see us. It was just absolutely amazing.”
Arturo said the franchisee’s entry in the Starke Christmas parade, which generated positive responses, wasn’t a carefully planned marketing campaign. It was a last-minute decision that turned into one of Arturo’s career highlights.
“We just, on the fly, decided that we were going to do it,” Arturo explained. “With the grand opening scheduled for December 16 and the parade happening on December 13, the timing was perfect. They loaded up a trailer and truck with Christmas decorations and Papa Johns gear and joined the festivities. Starke responded with enthusiasm.”
The new Starke location is the 29th Papa John’s for Bajco Florida in the northeast region, operating across Duval, Clay, St. John’s, Nassau and Bradford counties. But Bajco Florida is just a piece of a much larger operation—franchise owner Nadeem Bajwa controls 275 Papa Johns locations across multiple states.
Arturo said his company had been looking at Starke for some time but couldn’t find the right location until recently.
“This community is amazing. I mean, you got plenty of people out here,” Arturo said. “There’s no reason for us not to be here. We just haven’t found the right location until now. The building in front of Walmart had Papa Johns written all over it.”
The operations director said both he and Bajwa share similar origin stories—they each started as delivery drivers and worked their way through the ranks. Arturo climbed from driver to manager to area supervisor to multi-unit leader before taking over operations for the Florida market.
“I started the same way he did,” Arturo said of Bajwa, who now owns nearly 300 stores after starting behind the wheel of a delivery car.
When asked what distinguishes Papa Johns from the dozens of other pizza retailers, Arturo responded with the franchisor’s well-known tagline.
“We’ve got better ingredients,” he proclaimed. “The ingredients are the highest quality of all the pizza chains, without a doubt. And the dough is just amazing.”
The ribbon cutting featured music from the Bradford High School marching band, free pizza, a raffle for a year of free pizza, and free Papa Johns swag, like pens and cup holders.
The new location employs about 20 people and offers both delivery and carryout service.
Pam Whittle, president of the North Florida Regional Chamber of Commerce, said the Papa Johns opening, in addition to other recent area new businesses like Snappy’s Express car wash, Express Oil Change, Wawa, Holiday Inn Express and Affordable Pet Cremation of Florida, takes years to develop and requires work the public never sees.
“Supply chain issues, construction delays, permitting, financing, negotiations,” she said. “Any one of a hundred things can push back an opening date or derail a project entirely. Economic development professionals work on projects for years, knowing full well that many will never reach the ribbon-cutting stage.”
