Hospitality Industry Trends Redefining 2026

And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you give the audience some info about your background and you can likewise 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 nine years now. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've spent many of my profession in hospitality in some shape or type. After a quick stint of attempting 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 very first employee there after private equity bought business. 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 part as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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

Significant Market Shifts for 2026 Growth

Hey, everyone. It's fantastic to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as a lot of you know, is a leading service provider of software application services to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our goal is to assist our customers be successful in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally supplying them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are precious and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, among the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I've just fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you speak with customers about Chop Store, they love the location. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex principle in regards to delivering a fantastic experience for the consumer, and have the ability to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's incredible.

We're going to discuss how to scale a restaurant business. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has dreams of taking one shop, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into multiple states, and eventually nationwide, even international reach. It's not simple, specifically in today's environment.

It's not an easy time to drive success and growth at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it successful? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale excellent teams?

How to Expand a Restaurant Brand

The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the dining establishment industry. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to really drive success in expanding restaurants?

We talked a bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed as much as follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing a service. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brand names I've been included with are unique.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're finishing with a big, diverse menu. Most brands today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're using from a food product. I seem like we started 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 name have something special that no one else is doing?

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The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a lot of early startup restaurateurs who are creative types. They like the food, they constructed the menu, they developed the brand.

They do not know their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin enhances as sales boost. They do not understand cash-on-cash returns. I have actually seen so many business where the numbers simply don't work. And yet people state: let's open 10 more. And I'll state: why? It does not earn money. Stop. You require to discover a principle that is unique.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you shouldn't be building stores. Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand name differentiation, and financial viability.

Analyzing Franchise Models Against Growth Trends

Second, you require an engaging brand or special principle that resonates with clients. And third, the math needs to work. If you don't understand your unit economics, your fixed and variable costs, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another essential lesson has to do with getting in new markets.

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