Franchise Focus

One man's journey from delivery driver to franchisee of 105 Papa Johns restaurants

Eric Murphy transformed a chance gig as a Papa Johns delivery driver in 1999 into a 105-unit franchise empire across six states by prioritizing strategic regional growth and employee loyalty.

Photo: Papa Johns

August 20, 2026 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Editor, Connect Media

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In February 1999, Eric Murphy wandered into a newly-opened Papa Johns in Oklahoma City simply to kill time after finishing his McDonald's lunch.

Ten minutes later, he was offered a job on the spot, clocked in as a delivery driver and never looked back.

Nearly three decades later, that accidental shift has snowballed into a formidable quick-service empire. Murphy shared the journey of how he transformed a part-time college gig into Ozark Pizza, a 105-unit franchise powerhouse spanning six states — and why he believes the secret to scaling a massive portfolio lies in never forgetting what it's like to be the one delivering the pizza.

Eric Murphy, Papa Johns franchisee. Photo: Papa Johns

As a member of the Air Force, Murphy was stationed in Oklahoma and had worked in just about every pizza place in town. Papa Johns was new to the area, and Murphy stopped in at the franchise to check them out. He met the manager, who gave him a driver's position right there. He started training that very day. It was February 19, 1999, a date Murphy recalls vividly.

Murphy worked some 60 hours a week while going to school, drawn to the environment and culture of the brand.

"Within probably two or three months after that, by the next semester of school, I was a GM of a different (Papa Johns) restaurant, and I ended up kind of cutting back a little bit on school because that was obviously pretty demanding, but I liked it," Murphy said in a phone interview.

By his second year, Murphy was promoted to district manager, a role he held for five and a half years. He eventually quit school, happy with the direction his career was headed.

Shortly after, he made the decision to become a franchisee.

Scaling the empire

Securing a couple of investors, Murphy bought two Papa Johns stores in Norman, Oklahoma, in June of 2007. His investors wanted to grow the company and buy more franchises, which would inherently allow Murphy's employees at the Norman locations to grow their careers as well.

They bought additional stores in Oklahoma and eventually purchased franchises in Arkansas and Missouri. By the end of 2010, the company had expanded to 30 units.

Murphy noted that growing so fast was challenging. Calling himself a "one-person show" who did the payroll, marketing and accounting for the Norman stores, he suddenly had to pivot. He ended up training people to handle those administrative tasks, finding supervisors for the new restaurants and helping run operations.

"A couple of years later, we decided, 'Okay, well, why are we stopping here? Let's continue to grow this business.' And so then we started buying stores in Illinois, in Colorado (and) eventually in Nebraska," Murphy said.

Strategic geography

Today, his company boasts a roster of 105 units throughout six states, a trajectory Murphy calls a "pretty exciting journey." He noted that taking over existing franchises is often more challenging than opening his own, but it remains his preferred method of expansion.

Murphy moved to St. Louis a few years ago, a location that places him strategically in the middle of the country. Originally from California, he recognizes that every region has unique operational challenges, laws and economics.

"I don't have any other brands," Murphy said. "I'm committed to this one and I like it, but I also want to do what makes sense for me. That's why all the stores we've bought or built are in this middle part of the country, so that we can manage them a little easier. … We look at geography if it's a new store — how far is our closest store so they can get that support? What I don't want to do is build a store or buy a store that's three, four, or five hours from my next closest location."

Rather than risk building a franchise in a new market that could be saturated, he prefers to buy existing stores. He knows his current markets well enough to determine whether they can successfully sustain another location.

An employee stretches dough at a Papa Johns franchise. Photo: Papa Johns

Cultivating consistency and loyalty

With so many locations, how has Murphy structured his leadership team to ensure that a pizza in Oklahoma City tastes the same as one in St. Louis?

"We're a pretty decent-sized company, and we're a franchise, so not only do we have to be consistent amongst ourselves, but we have to follow the franchise rules of what Papa Johns expects. We kind of have to do both at the same time," Murphy said.

The tenure of his leadership team helps maintain this operational efficiency. With some employees dating back to periods of rapid growth in 2010 and 2013, his team boasts a combined 50 to 60 years of experience.

Training at the store level is highly important, and Murphy stated that his people "are everything." He said retaining staff comes down to trust, extra benefits, various bonuses, and recognizing hard work — up to and including paid trips to celebrate longevity with the brand.

"We know tomorrow anybody in a given restaurant can just easily go get a job somewhere else," Murphy said. "That's a given, so we gotta give them a reason to want to stay working for Papa Johns, and that's what we try to do."

In short, it's just as important to take care of the customers as it is the team, Murphy elaborated. People have to eat — and that is one thing that won't change. What can change, however, is where they choose to spend their money.

"At the end of the day," Murphy said, "people are still going to eat something, so we got to meet them there and do it with a smile, do it quick and get it right."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the Pizzamarketplace.com and QSRweb.com editor for Connect Media. An award-winning journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places. Mandy has been featured on the Food Network and has won numerous awards for her coverage of the restaurant industry. She has an insatiable appetite for learning, and, yes, she can tell you where to find the best pizza slices in the country.

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