Best Investment Prospects to Watch

And we also 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 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 purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. After a short stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in corporate financing.

I was the very first employee there after personal equity purchased business. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 locations, took it public in 2014, and then left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Store. My hope is that we can reproduce the success we had at Zos, and we're off to an actually excellent start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. The secret to the program is we have a beverage part as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, however we believe 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.

Expansion News: Regional Milestones in 2026

Hey, everybody. It's great to be with you once again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I've been in this function 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 help our clients succeed in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and generally providing them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have business that are beloved and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was amazing. I have actually only satisfied a handful of brands where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand.

When you talk to clients about Chop Store, they enjoy the place. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex concept in terms of providing an excellent experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to discuss how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has imagine taking one shop, two stores, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into numerous states, and eventually national, even worldwide reach. It's not easy, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory costs stay high. It's not an easy time to drive success and growth at the very same time. We're thankful to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that topic. The questions are going to be really around: how do you grow a company? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you reproduce early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd enjoy to then say: well, look, how could innovation assist? How can you use technology as a multiplier to duplicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale fantastic groups? And lastly, AI.

The Advantages of Fast Casual Franchising in 2026

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this twice now in the restaurant market. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in broadening restaurants?

We talked a little 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 a company. To me, among the key things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brand names I've been included with are unique.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in regards to what we're making with a large, varied menu. The majority of brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food item. I seem like we began at a benefit with both brands by having something distinct that filled a niche no one else was doing.

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

High-ROI Hospitality Ventures Coming in 2026

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 built the menu, they developed the brand.

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

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

If you do not have those two things, you shouldn't be building shops. Yeah, maybe both? Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial practicality. You've got to start with execution. If you do not have an operating model that works, broadening it simply increases issues.

Significant Market Milestones Shaping 2026 Expansion

Second, you require a compelling brand name or unique idea that resonates with customers. And 3rd, the math needs to work. If you don't understand your system economics, your fixed and variable costs, you may be broadening blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another essential lesson has to do with going into new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators assume new markets will open at full volume the first day. That nearly never ever happens. And when the shops open slow, but you've signed leases and built a financial design based upon greater volumes, you get overextended.