The Advantages of Restaurant Franchising in 2026

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 info about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Shop.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I've been doing this for about 9 years now. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually invested most of my career in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a short stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino property and operated in business financing.

I was the first staff member there after personal equity bought the company. Assisted 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 Store. My hope is that we can replicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually great 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.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complicated than a few of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, however we think we have actually got something quite unique. We're going to add another shop this year and a minimum of 4 stores next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

Quick Service Industry Growth for 2026

Hey, everyone. It's terrific to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I've remained in this role for about six years. 4th, as much of you know, is a leading service provider of software solutions to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our goal is to assist our clients be successful in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and generally offering them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are cherished 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 incredible. I've just met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the very same thing at Chop Shop. When you talk to customers about Chop Shop, they love the place. They speak about its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated concept in terms of delivering a fantastic experience for the customer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one store, 2 shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even worldwide reach. But it's hard, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock expenses stay high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and growth at the very 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 concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow a company? 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 discovered, we 'd love to then state: well, look, how could innovation assist? How can you use technology as a multiplier to replicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale fantastic teams? And lastly, AI.

National Milestones in Brand Scaling

The very first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the dining establishment market. What are a few of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience remained in regards to what it takes to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments? Inform me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and perhaps a few of the harder lessons you learned.

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 business. To me, one of the essential things, and I feel really lucky, is that both brand names I've been involved with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're doing with a large, varied menu. Most brand names today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food. I feel like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something special that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

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

Key Market Shifts Shaping 2026 Expansion

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

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

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If you do not have those two things, you should not be building stores. Yeah, perhaps both? Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary practicality. You have actually got to start with execution. If you don't have an operating design that works, broadening it just multiplies issues.

Is Scaling the Best Move?

Second, you need an engaging brand name or unique principle that resonates with customers. And third, the math needs to work. If you don't understand your unit economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you might be expanding blind and losing money. Exactly. And another essential lesson is about entering new markets.

However when we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too many operators presume new markets will open at full volume day one. That nearly never occurs. And when the stores open sluggish, however you have actually signed leases and constructed a financial model based upon higher volumes, you get overextended.