Co-owner Brandon Duncan of Port Quick Shop in New Iberia, Louisiana, glides through the kitchen as the frenetic breakfast rush begins. Scores of empty white paper bags sit near the hotbox waiting to be filled for the customers that will soon descend on the store. It’s a bit like the last few minutes before a big game, but this game happens each morning.

Duncan was once a vice president and financial advisor with Merrill Lynch. He served in that position for 15 years, with his wealth management practice focused on managing the liabilities of affluent individuals and business owners.

“I worked with business owners in raising equity and divestiture,” he said. “I didn’t think that one day I’d convince my parents not to monetize a small c-store.”

His parents, Brooke and Lucia Duncan, had thought that they had enough of the c-store business. “We were about to close after 15 years of running an exceptional business. We had 18 employees, plus my husband and I were here full time,” Lucia explained.

From Hurricane Rita flooding the store in 2005 to the BP oil spill in 2010, the ups and downs of a business were weighing heavy on the Duncans. One day, they decided to shut it down.

“I think it might have even been before lunch, they literally locked the doors and said, we’re done,” recalled Brandon. “I initially reopened it just to sell the store. We had a small staff, and then I realized that it was a darkest before dawn situation, that they were just tired. And it was a typical small business owner just having enough.”

“Eventually, I convinced them to let me run it. I moved here permanently about nine years ago,” Brandon said. Even with Brandon at the helm, it remains a family business. His mom comes in a few hours a day to help.

Continue reading about Port Quick Stop in “Facing the Storm” in the May 2025 issue of NACS Magazine.