Strategic Expansion Milestones for 2026

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some details about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Shop.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. We bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a short stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and worked in business finance.

I was the first worker there after personal equity bought 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 replicate 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 element as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we believe we've got something quite unique. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of four stores next year. So we will be 31 approximately shops by the end of next year.

Profitable Hospitality Ventures Coming in 2026

I have actually been in this function for about 6 years. 4th, as many of you know, is a leading service provider of software services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our clients be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally offering them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are precious and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, among the factors I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I've only met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand.

When you talk to clients about Chop Store, they like the location. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex idea in terms of delivering an excellent experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's remarkable.

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

It's not an easy time to drive success and growth at the very same time. How do you scale it and make it effective? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific teams?

Corporate News: New Developments for 2026

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the dining establishment market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience been in regards to what it requires to actually drive success in expanding restaurants? Inform me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and perhaps a few of the more difficult lessons you discovered.

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 business. To me, among the essential things, and I feel extremely fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been included with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're finishing with a big, varied menu. A lot of brands today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a foodstuff. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

Since it's just harder to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the specific very same thing. So a great deal of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand have something distinct that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

Steps to Scale a Dining Brand

The second thingI originated from a finance background, so a lot of my knowings are more financing and data-driven versus a great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are innovative types. They love the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand. I most likely could not do that from scratch. If you gave me something that has all those parts in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin improves as sales increase. I've seen so many business where the numbers simply don't work.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be developing stores. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and financial viability.

Regional Milestones in Brand Scaling

Second, you require a compelling brand or distinct idea that resonates with clients. And another key lesson is about entering new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I expected new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too many operators assume brand-new markets will open at complete volume day one.