Franchise Focus

The dough must go on: How Kyle McPhee built a 16-store Papa Murphy's franchise

Kyle McPhee rose from a teenage prep worker to the owner of 16 Papa Murphy's franchises by revitalizing struggling stores while focusing on customer service and operational efficiency. His success is a family endeavor, with his wife and children involved, and he continues to expand while prioritizing hands-on management and team development.

Photo: Papa Murphy's

May 22, 2025 by Mandy Wolf Detwiler — Managing Editor, Networld Media Group

Kyle McPhee knows the ins and outs of running a Papa Murphy's franchise. After all, he has 16 located in Utah and Wyoming. Papa Murphy's has been a part of McPhee's life since he was 18 doing prep work at the store across the street from his parents' home.

It was the busiest store in the state, and within six months, McPhee was a manager. For seven years, he bounced around from store to store, working in training, inventory and troubleshooting.

The franchisee of the units he'd been working in, Jared McDougle, eventually realized it was time for McPhee to take the next step. He asked McPhee to partner with him on a store in Holladay, Utah. McPhee said it was a store that wasn't excelling, with poor service and long wait times at fault. That changed when McPhee took over, and he eventually made it one of the busiest stores in Utah.

"I just focused on customer service and speed of service and turned it around," McPhee said in a phone interview. "It's in the top and the busiest store in Utah nowadays."

McPhee added that turning around that first store is one of the highlights of his career.

Six months later, McDougle offered McPhee half of a second store he'd bought at the same time. McPhee started managing both stores and eventually bought three more stores with McDougle.

"After seven years, we split up the stores. I took two, he took three," McPhee said, "and I started over building up to what we have now."

With 16 stores, McPhee said it doesn't feel real to have so many franchises on his own. He credits his success to strong managers and good teams. He's usually helping out at a few stores at a time and recognizes that he can't be everywhere at once.

"It was always the big plan (to have so many franchises), and I love doing it," McPhee said. "I always wanted to be self-employed and have a bunch of stores. We pulled it off."

That "we" includes his family. McPhee met his wife at Papa Murphy's when they worked together as teenagers. Both his wife and five children are a part of the business. The kids learn to use the register by the time they're seven or eight years old. "It's just a lot of fun to have a family. I get to hang out with my family all the time." McPhee said. "My wife helps me every day. My oldest son is one of my managers — he's 19 now."

It's that son, Aydon, who's now partnering with his dad on a store in Eagle Mountain, Utah, a town south of Salt Lake City. "He's been my right-hand man for 10 years — since he could walk he's come to Papa Murphy's, so he's exited to do this for a career," McPhee added.

Employees work a Papa Murphy's makeline owned by Kyle McPhee in Utah. Photo: Kyle McPhee/ Papa Murphy's

Operations

Papa Murphy's has evolved over the years, McPhee said. When he started, the brand had only one crust and 15 to 20 toppings available. Today, it has six crusts and up to 45 toppings. That makes it more complex to operate, McPhee added, because there are more moving parts.

"We used to have one shelf in the cooler with dough on it," McPhee said. "Now we've got six. It's a lot more planning to make sure you make the right stuff so you're ready for each day."

Hiring has always been the biggest challenge for the franchisee, finding crew members that want to work and are willing to put the effort into their positions.

"I think this younger generation is very attached to their social media, and it's just getting harder and harder to find people that have strong work ethics," McPhee said. As a result, the franchises do a lot of hiring and training. "You just have to dig through the weeds and find the good ones."

McPhee said Papa Murphy's is well known in Utah, as the state is saturated with the take-and-bake stores. There's not a learning curve for most new customers, as they're already well aware of the brand.

To maintain consistency across the brand, McPhee is present in his stores, and he trains employees frequently. He stays involved in his company, whether it's answering phones, washing dishes, training or hiring. He has area supervisors in his stores every day.

"I think that's the biggest thing to keeping it consistent," he said. "This isn't a passive investment for me. It is what I do."

Since McPhee started as an entry level worker, he's already done everything he asks his crew to do. Many employees have worked for him for years, and some have even left and come back.

"They're shocked at how down to Earth I am as a manager and owner," McPhee said, "but it's because I've done what they've done. I'm not an old guy trying to tell them what to do. I can do it side by side with them."

The lobby of a Papa Murphy's store. Photo: Kyle McPhee/Papa Murphy's

Growth and competition

Aside from his Utah stores, McPhee has two in Wyoming in Rock Springs and Evanston.

Two units are in development — Eagle Mountain and another in St. George, Utah. They're located in growing housing markets.

"The towns are big enough to take on another store or their first store," McPhee said. Most of the stores he's obtained over the years have been through acquisition taking over struggling stores. Implementing customer service and speed of service helps increase business at these failing stores, and he quickly learned how to turn them around. So far, he's 100% on successfully increasing business in the stores he's acquired.

The biggest complaint about take-and-bake pizza is that it must be taken home and baked, but McPhee said that's also one of its biggest draws. That convenience is what customers most enjoy about take-and-bake pizza.

"One person thinks we're inconvenient because we don't bake it. They've got to take it home and cook it," McPhee said, "but it's also the thing that makes us extremely convenient because you can come at 10 o'clock in the morning and buy your pizza, put it in the fridge and at whatever point your whole family arrives at home, throw it in the oven and you can eat together. It's hot and ready when your whole family is there at the same time."

McPhee said he doesn't believe it has become harder to run take-and-bake stores in the past few years. With the right teams, it's an easy concept to operate because the brand doesn't have ovens. Most stores close at 8 or 9 p.m., and there are fewer moving parts than a traditional pizzeria.

The Papa Murphy's business model is appealing to franchisees because of those minimum moving parts to a take-and-bake concept. There's plenty of prep and the dough is made in-house, cheese is grated, and vegetables are cut on site, but the lack of equipment and the shorter hours are appealing to franchisees.

To budding Papa Murphy's franchisees, McPhee said the more work they put into their businesses, the more they'll get out of it.

"They have their future in their hands," he added. "They can control how big or how successful they want to be. … It's a big responsibility but it's something that if someone wants to take that on, they can. They can take care of people in their community."

About Mandy Wolf Detwiler

Mandy Wolf Detwiler is the managing editor at Networld Media Group and the site editor for PizzaMarketplace.com and QSRweb.com. She has more than 20 years’ experience covering food, people and places.
 
An award-winning print journalist, Mandy brings more than 20 years’ experience to Networld Media Group. She has spent nearly two decades covering the pizza industry, from independent pizzerias to multi-unit chains and every size business in between. 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 can tell you where to find the best slices in the country after spending 15 years traveling and eating pizza for a living. 

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