The Benefits of Restaurant Expansion in 2026

And we likewise 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 information about your background and you can likewise tell them a little bit about Chop Store.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. After a brief stint of attempting to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and worked in business finance.

I was the very first worker there after personal equity purchased the company. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 areas, 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 duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is mainly protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a beverage component too with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all day.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, however we believe we've got something pretty unique. We're going to include another store this year and at least four shops next year. So we will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

Key Market Shifts Shaping 2026 Growth

Hey, everybody. It's great to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually remained in this role for about six years. Fourth, as much of you know, is a leading supplier of software services to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our goal is to assist our clients achieve success in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and basically offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

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

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Shop. When you talk to customers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the place. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complicated principle in regards to providing an excellent experience for the customer, and have the ability to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to speak about how to scale a restaurant business. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has dreams of taking one shop, 2 shops, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into numerous states, and ultimately national, even worldwide reach. It's not simple, especially in today's environment.

Labor is tough. Stock expenses remain high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and growth at the exact same time. We're pleased to have you here today, Jason, due to the fact that we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be truly around: how do you grow a company? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we talk about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd like to then say: well, appearance, how could technology assist? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to replicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific teams? And lastly, AI.

Is Scaling a Wise Move?

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience remained in regards to what it takes to really drive success in broadening restaurants? Inform me a little about your course, what you experienced along the method, and perhaps some of the harder lessons you found out.

We talked a bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed up to follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing an organization. To me, among the key things, and I feel really lucky, is that both brands I have actually been included with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in regards to what we're making with a big, diverse menu. Many brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're using from a food item. I feel like we started at an advantage with both brands by having something distinct that filled a specific niche no one else was doing.

Due to the fact that it's just harder to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 ideas within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the exact very same thing. A lot of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand name have something unique that no one else is doing? That's uncommon.

Significant Regional Milestones Shaping 2026 Expansion

The 2nd thingI originated from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a great deal of early startup restaurateurs who are creative types. They like the food, they built the menu, they developed the brand name. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. However if you offered me something that has all those components in location, 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 enhances as sales boost. I've seen so lots of business where the numbers simply don't work.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you shouldn't be building stores. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and financial practicality.

How to Expand Your Restaurant Concept

Second, you require a compelling brand name or unique concept that resonates with customers. And 3rd, the mathematics needs to work. If you don't comprehend your unit economics, your fixed and variable expenses, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another key lesson is about getting in new markets.

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