BARRY APPELBAUM
OWNER, Grilladelphia

Barry Appelbaum is used to being first. In 1980, while working towards degrees in accounting and economics at Temple University, he became the youngest dealer to own an Arco gas station. One year later, he pioneered the first Arco AM/PM franchise in the East Coast region.

Like many teenage boys, Barry began working in a gas station in high school. Soon, he was managing a Gulf station, responsible for everything from reconciling the gasoline, stock and cash inventory, to pumping gas, to cleaning the restroom. This early experience served him well: as he became an Arco multi-franchisee, Barry grew his three locations to monthly sales of $87,000, $45,000 and $55,000; pumping 120,000 gallons, 273,000 gallons, and 493,000 gallons each month.

A key component of the AM/PM franchise was its Quick Service Restaurant (QSR) food service. When Barry couldn’t find a co-branding partner to meet his standards for quality and taste, he created a proprietary product – opening his own delicatessen in the convenience store and co-branding it himself.

In 1985, as Arco was shifting out of the East, Barry sold his stores and sought new opportunity with Exxon. He was impressed with the corporate culture: in an early meeting he discovered that his numbers were less important to the company than a commitment to high ethical standards. Taking three new Exxon franchises in the Philadelphia region, Barry operated well-organized, clean facilities and the numbers followed: these three stores presently achieve monthly sales of $42,000, $40,000 and $120,000; pumping 150,000 gallons, 200,000 gallons, and 125,000 gallons each month. He attributes some of his success to his strong community involvement: Barry regularly supports numerous charities, including Special Olympics, sponsors local children’s sports teams, and participates in Town Watch and Clean Street programs, among other community-oriented and charitable activities.

Barry is recognized as one of the most experienced dealers in the petroleum/convenience/QSR industries. A Director on the Board of the Pennsylvania Gasoline Retailers Association, he has worked to attain fair liability and workmen’s compensation rates for its members, and helped to pass legislation for new emission control regulations. Exxon recently appointed Barry to the newly formed ExxonMobil Business Council.

His experience in the QSR industry led Barry to create the Grilladelphia concept, and to locate the first Grilladelphia in one of his convenience stores. Committed to creating a destination steakery, Barry isn’t afraid of the serious cheesesteak competition in Philadelphia, or the cheesesteak “clones” popping up around the country. As his “hot pouch” concept catches on, Appelbaum’s monthly sandwich sales have grown to $20,000. And after being ranked as one of the best cheesesteak places – “a serious steakery” – by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s influential food critic, Craig LaBan, Barry opened the second Grilladelphia in March 2002. He is presently scouting additional locations.