Following his sporting career, Schoenbaum went on to found the Shoney's restaurant chain, a regional organization which is one of the largest businesses to have originated in West Virginia and was at one time one of the largest family owned restaurant chains in the United States.
Under Schoenbaum, the Shoney's organization also developed and operated the Captain D's fast food seafood chain, Lee's Famous Recipe Chicken fast-food chain, now part of Mrs. Winner's and three casual dining chains, The Sailmaker, Pargo's, and the Fifth Quarter Steakhouses.