Essential Strategies for Growing Hospitality Brands

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

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a brief stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in business financing.

I was the very first worker there after private equity bought the organization. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 places, took it public in 2014, and then left about a year and a half after going public to do this at Chop Shop. My hope is that we can replicate 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 key to the program is we have a beverage 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 concepts that are out there, however we believe we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to include another store this year and at least four stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Key Market Milestones Shaping 2026 Growth

I've been in this function for about 6 years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading supplier of software application options to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our clients be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and generally supplying them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are precious and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, among the factors I was so excited to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I've only satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand.

And now you're doing the exact same thing at Chop Store. When you speak to customers about Chop Store, they love the place. They speak about its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a fairly complicated concept in terms of providing an excellent experience for the client, and have the ability to grow that from a few shops to now north of 30 stores next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to discuss how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one shop, two stores, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and ultimately national, even global reach. But it's not easy, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory costs remain high. It's not an easy time to drive profitability and development at the exact same time. However we're thankful to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to go into that topic. The concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow an organization? 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 love to then state: well, look, how could technology assist? How can you use innovation as a multiplier to replicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale great teams? And lastly, AI.

Key Tips to Growing Hospitality Brands

The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the restaurant market. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments?

We talked a little bit before we started 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 company. To me, one of the key things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brands I've been included with are special.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Store in terms of what we're finishing with a big, diverse menu. A lot of brand names today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food item. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something distinct that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

Because it's just more difficult to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a 2- or three-mile radius trying to do the exact same thing. A lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand name have something unique that no one else is doing? That's uncommon.

Corporate Expansion Targets for 2026

The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my knowings are more financing and data-driven versus a great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they built the menu, they built the brand. I most likely couldn't do that from scratch. If you offered me something that has all those components in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin improves as sales increase. I have actually seen so numerous 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 constructing stores. Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary practicality.

Why Is Fast Casual the Wise Move?

Second, you need an engaging brand name or special concept that resonates with clients. And another key lesson is about getting in new markets.

However when we expanded to Dallas, I anticipated brand-new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators presume brand-new markets will open at complete volume the first day. That nearly never takes place. And when the shops open slow, but you've signed leases and constructed a financial design based on greater volumes, you get overextended.