Corporate Expansion Targets for 2026

Thank you. And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some details about your background and you can likewise inform them a little bit about Chop Store. And after that I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I have actually 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 career in hospitality in some shape or form. After a short stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino home and worked in corporate financing.

I was the first employee there after private equity bought the service. Assisted 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 a really good start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is primarily protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We also do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a drink part 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 ideas that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to include another store this year and a minimum of four shops next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

National Milestones in Corporate Scaling

I have actually been in this role for about six years. Fourth, as numerous of you understand, is a leading provider of software options to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our goal is to help our clients be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and basically offering them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's rare to have business that are beloved and growing quickly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, among the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually only met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Shop. When you speak with clients about Chop Shop, they like the place. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex principle in terms of delivering a fantastic experience for the customer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's incredible.

We're going to talk about how to scale a restaurant business. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has dreams of taking one shop, two stores, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, across the state, into numerous states, and eventually nationwide, even global reach. However it's difficult, specifically in today's environment.

It's not an easy time to drive profitability and development at the same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale great groups?

National Milestones in Brand Expansion

The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this twice now in the dining establishment industry. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to truly drive success in broadening dining establishments?

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

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Shop in regards to what we're finishing with a large, diverse menu. A lot of brands today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a foodstuff. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brand names by having something unique that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

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

How to Expand a Dining Brand

The second thingI came from a finance background, so a great deal of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early startup restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand. I probably could not do that from scratch. If you gave me something that has all those components in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in location.

They don't know their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin improves as sales boost. I've seen so lots of business where the numbers simply do not work.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be constructing stores. Yeah, possibly both, right? Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary viability. You have actually got to begin with execution. If you do not have an operating design that works, broadening it just increases problems.

Regional Milestones in Brand Scaling

Second, you require an engaging brand name or distinct concept that resonates with customers. And third, the mathematics needs to work. If you do not comprehend your unit economics, your fixed and variable costs, you might be expanding blind and losing money. Exactly. And another crucial lesson is about entering new markets.

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