Significant Regional Milestones Shaping 2026 Expansion

Thank you. And we likewise 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 inform them a little bit about Chop Shop. And after that 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 9 years now. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually invested most of my career in hospitality in some shape or type. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment residential or commercial property and operated in business finance.

I was the very first employee there after personal equity bought business. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 places, 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. It is mostly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a beverage component also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all the time.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something pretty unique. We're going to include another shop this year and at least 4 stores next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

How to Scale a Dining Concept

I have actually been in this function for about six years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading provider of software solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our consumers be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally offering them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are beloved and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, among the factors I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I have actually just satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you talk to customers about Chop Store, they like the place. They discuss its distinction. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated idea in terms of providing a fantastic experience for the consumer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's incredible.

We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one store, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into numerous states, and eventually national, even worldwide reach. However it's challenging, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory expenses stay high. It's not an easy time to drive profitability and growth at the same time. But we're grateful to have you here today, Jason, due to the fact that we're going to dig into that topic. The questions are going to be actually around: how do you grow a company? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we talk about your experience and the lessons you've learned, we 'd enjoy to then state: well, look, how could technology help? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to reproduce early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale fantastic teams? And finally, AI.

Quick Service Industry Trends

The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment industry. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments?

We talked a bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a company. To me, among the crucial things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brands I've been included with are distinct.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Store in terms of what we're doing with a large, diverse menu. Most brand names today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a foodstuff. I feel like we started at a benefit with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a niche no one else was doing.

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

Steps to Scale Your Restaurant Brand

The 2nd thingI came from a finance background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin enhances as sales increase. They do not comprehend cash-on-cash returns. I have actually seen so many business where the numbers simply don't work. And yet individuals say: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It does not generate income. Stop. You need to discover an idea that is distinct.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

If you don't have those two things, you should not be constructing stores. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand distinction, and financial viability.

Significant Market Milestones for 2026 Expansion

Second, you need a compelling brand name or special concept that resonates with clients. And another crucial lesson is about going into brand-new markets.

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