Key Regional Milestones for 2026 Growth

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you give the audience some information about your background and you can likewise tell them a little bit about Chop Store.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I've 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've invested many of my profession in hospitality in some shape or type. After a brief stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and operated in corporate finance.

I was the very first employee 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 Shop. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly 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 ideas that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to add another store this year and a minimum of 4 stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

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I've been in this function for about six years. Fourth, as numerous of you know, is a leading supplier of software services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our objective is to help our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and generally providing them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have business that are beloved and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of the factors I was so excited to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I've only fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

When you talk to customers about Chop Store, they love the location. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex principle in terms of providing an excellent experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's incredible.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment business. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has dreams of taking one store, 2 shops, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into several states, and ultimately nationwide, even global reach. But it's challenging, especially in today's environment.

Labor is tough. Stock expenses remain high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and development at the same time. However we're pleased to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that topic. The concerns are going to be truly around: how do you grow an organization? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you reproduce 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, look, how could innovation help? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to reproduce early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great teams? And lastly, AI.

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The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the restaurant industry. What are a few of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience been in regards to what it takes to actually drive success in expanding restaurants? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the method, and maybe a few of the more difficult lessons you learned.

We talked a bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brands I have actually been involved with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Shop in regards to what we're making with a large, diverse menu. A lot of brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a foodstuff. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

Since it's just more difficult to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the specific very same thing. A lot of it begins with the brand. Does your brand have something unique that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

Key Market Milestones for 2026 Expansion

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

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin enhances as sales boost. I have actually seen so many business where the numbers just do not work.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be building shops. Yeah, maybe both, right? Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and financial practicality. You have actually got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating model that works, broadening it just multiplies issues.

Key Tips for Growing Restaurant Footprints

Second, you need a compelling brand or special concept that resonates with consumers. And 3rd, the mathematics needs to work. If you do not understand your system economics, your repaired and variable costs, you might be broadening blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another essential lesson is about going into new markets.

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