Corporate Updates: Regional Developments in 2026

Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. So Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some info about your background and you can also 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've been doing this for about 9 years now. We bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent many of my profession in hospitality in some shape or form. After a brief stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and operated in business finance.

I was the first employee there after personal equity bought the business. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 locations, 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 reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly great start.

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

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than a few of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, but we think we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to add another store this year and at least four stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Corporate News: Regional Milestones for 2026

Hey, everyone. It's great to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I've remained in this function for about six years. 4th, as numerous of you understand, is a leading provider of software application solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our objective is to help our consumers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and generally supplying them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have business that are cherished and growing quickly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, among the factors I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually just satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to customers about Chop Store, they like the place. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complicated concept in terms of delivering a fantastic experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's incredible.

We're going to speak about how to scale a restaurant organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one store, 2 shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, across the state, into numerous states, and ultimately national, even global reach. It's not simple, particularly in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the very same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great teams?

Essential Strategies for Growing Restaurant Brands

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment market. What are a few of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience remained in terms of what it requires to actually drive success in broadening restaurants? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and perhaps a few of the harder lessons you learned.

We talked a bit before we started about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a business. To me, among the essential things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been involved with are unique.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're doing with a big, diverse menu. Many brand names today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're providing from a food product. I seem like we began at a benefit with both brands by having something unique that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

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

Regional Milestones in Brand Expansion

The second thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They like the food, they developed the menu, they built the brand.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They do not understand how margin improves as sales boost. I have actually seen so numerous companies where the numbers just don't work.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

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

High-ROI Business Ventures Coming in 2026

Second, you require an engaging brand name or unique principle that resonates with consumers. And 3rd, the mathematics has to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your fixed and variable costs, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another essential lesson is about entering brand-new markets.

But when we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators presume new markets will open at full volume day one. That almost never ever occurs. And when the stores open slow, but you have actually signed leases and built a monetary model based on higher volumes, you get overextended.