Significant Market Milestones Shaping 2026 Expansion

Thank you. And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some details about your background and you can likewise inform them a little bit about Chop Shop. And then I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I have actually been doing this for about 9 years now. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually invested most of my profession in hospitality in some shape or form. After a short stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and operated in corporate financing.

I was the first staff member there after private equity purchased business. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 locations, took it public in 2014, and then left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Store. My hope is that we can replicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually excellent start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. The key to the program is we have a beverage part as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to add another shop this year and a minimum of four stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Key Regional Milestones Shaping 2026 Expansion

I have actually been in this role for about six years. Fourth, as numerous of you understand, is a leading service provider of software application services to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our consumers be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and essentially providing them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are cherished and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I've just fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to clients about Chop Store, they love the location. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated concept in terms of providing a terrific experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has imagine taking one shop, two stores, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, across the state, into multiple states, and ultimately national, even global reach. It's not simple, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock costs stay high. It's not an easy time to drive success and growth at the very same time. We're happy to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that topic. The questions are going to be really around: how do you grow an organization? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd enjoy to then say: well, appearance, how could innovation assist? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to duplicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale excellent teams? And lastly, AI.

Comparing Franchise Models Against Growth Data

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the restaurant market. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to truly drive success in broadening restaurants?

We talked a little bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed up to follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a service. To me, one of the essential things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brand names I have actually been included with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Store in terms of what we're making with a big, varied menu. The majority of brand names today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a foodstuff. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something unique that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

A lot of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand name have something unique that no one else is doing?

Profitable Hospitality Ventures Arising in 2026

The second thingI came from a finance background, so a great deal of my knowings are more finance and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand name. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. But if you offered me something that has all those parts in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in location.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin enhances as sales increase. I have actually seen so lots of business where the numbers simply don't work.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you shouldn't be constructing stores. Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial practicality.

How to Expand Your Dining Concept

Second, you require a compelling brand name or distinct principle that resonates with clients. And 3rd, the mathematics needs to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another crucial lesson has to do with going into new markets.

But when we expanded to Dallas, I expected new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too many operators assume new markets will open at complete volume the first day. That almost never ever occurs. And when the shops open slow, but you've signed leases and built a financial design based on higher volumes, you get overextended.