Multi-Unit Franchisee Magazine Issue IV, 2016 | Page 20

D OM I N A T O R S
BY DEBBIE SELINSKY

Gimme (Pie) Five!

D

Former Applebee’s CEO embraces emerging brand

ave Goebel has crammed several
lifetimes into his 66 years. Goebel,
who nimbly quotes Jesus, “The
Wizard of Oz,” and The Seven
Habits of Highly Effective People, hasn’t just
dabbled—he’s immersed himself in each:
franchisor (Applebee’s CEO); franchisee
(Boston Market, Pie Five Pizza, Goodcents
Deli Fresh Subs); creator of several original concepts; board director (Jack in the
Box, QuickChek); executive coach (Merryck & Co.); philanthropist (Children’s
Mercy Hospital); and husband, father of
six, and grandfather of eight.
Today, after a couple of failures at retirement in his adopted home of Kansas
City, Mo., Goebel is tackling his latest

career move as a Pie Five Pizza multi-unit
franchisee, alongside three of his children,
with his usual energy and verve.
“Becoming a franchisee for Pie Five
was actually the idea of two of my sons,
Kerry and Kevin. Kerry, whose brother
calls him ‘brainiac,’ had done masterful
spreadsheets and boiled our next venture
down to fast casual pizza. The guys said,
‘Dad, it keeps coming back to the fact that
Americans are eating sandwiches, burgers,
and pizza, and that’s probably not going
to change.’ So we went to Dallas and saw
142 pizzas coming out while employees
engaged with customers on the line. It
reminded me of the early days of Boston
Market. We loved the concept because it

NAME: Dave Goebel
TITLE: President
COMPANY: Santoku Restaurant

Group

NO. OF UNITS: 10 Pie Five (2
set for completion in Q4), 5
Goodcents Deli Fresh Subs, and
6 Y-Leave Cafe; owner, Prime
Catering Events
AGE: 66
FAMILY: Married 42 years to Jan;

six children, three daughters, three
sons (one daughter and two sons
in business with me)

YEARS IN FRANCHISING: 14
YEARS IN CURRENT POSITION: 8

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MULTI-UNIT FRANCHISEE IS S UE IV, 2016

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