Corporate News: Regional Milestones for 2026

Thank you. And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, 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. 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'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 have actually spent the majority of my profession in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a brief stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino property and operated in corporate finance.

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

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A little more complicated than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we believe we've got something pretty unique. We're going to add another shop this year and a minimum of four shops next year. So we will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Essential Tips for Growing Restaurant Footprints

I have actually been in this role for about six years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading service provider of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our objective is to help our consumers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and basically providing them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

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

And now you're doing the very same thing at Chop Store. When you talk to consumers about Chop Store, they love the place. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated concept 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 stores next yearit's incredible.

We're going to discuss how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one shop, two stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and ultimately national, even international reach. It's not simple, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock expenses stay high. It's not an easy time to drive profitability and growth at the very 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 a service? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we talk about your experience and the lessons you've learned, we 'd like to then say: well, look, how could technology help? How can you use innovation as a multiplier to reproduce early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale terrific teams? And finally, AI.

Why Is Scaling the Wise Move?

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the restaurant market. 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 broadening dining establishments? Inform me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and maybe a few of the harder lessons you found out.

We talked a little bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed up to follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a company. To me, among the crucial things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brands I have actually been involved with are special.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're doing with a big, varied menu. Many brand names today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a food. I feel like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something special that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

Since it's simply more difficult to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the precise very same thing. So a lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand name have something distinct that no one else is doing? That's uncommon.

Strategic Growth Milestones for 2026

The second thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are creative types. They enjoy the food, they built the menu, they developed the brand. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. But if you offered me something that has all those components in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in location.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin improves 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've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name distinction, and monetary viability.

National Milestones in Corporate Scaling

Second, you require a compelling brand name or distinct concept that resonates with clients. And another key lesson is about getting in brand-new markets.

However when we expanded to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators assume new markets will open at full volume day one. That practically never ever happens. And when the shops open sluggish, but you have actually signed leases and built a financial model based on greater volumes, you get overextended.