Strategic Growth Targets in 2026

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 also inform them a little bit about Chop Store. And then I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I have actually been doing this for about nine years now. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent the majority of my profession in hospitality in some shape or form. After a brief stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in corporate finance.

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

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

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A little more complicated than some of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, however we think we have actually got something pretty unique. We're going to add another shop this year and at least four shops next year. So we will be 31 approximately stores by the end of next year.

Expansion News: New Developments for 2026

I've been in this function for about 6 years. Fourth, as many of you understand, is a leading company of software options to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to help our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are cherished and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among the factors I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I have actually only satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Store. When you talk with customers about Chop Shop, they love the location. They discuss its distinction. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex principle in regards to providing a great experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's amazing.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has dreams of taking one shop, two shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and eventually nationwide, even international reach. It's not easy, particularly in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale terrific teams?

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

We talked a little bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a service. To me, among the key things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brand names I've been included with are unique.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're making with a big, varied menu. Many brand names today are extremely singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a food item. I feel 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 begins with the brand name. Does your brand name have something unique that no one else is doing?

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The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they constructed the menu, they developed the brand name. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. However if you gave me something that has all those parts in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin improves as sales increase. I have actually seen so numerous business where the numbers just don't work.

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If you don't have those two things, you should not be building shops. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and monetary viability.

National Success in Brand Expansion

Second, you need a compelling brand name or distinct concept that resonates with clients. And 3rd, the math has to work. If you don't comprehend your system economics, your repaired and variable costs, you may be broadening blind and losing money. Precisely. And another key lesson has to do with going into new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too numerous operators presume brand-new markets will open at full volume day one.