Key Market Shifts for 2026 Growth

And we likewise 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 information about your background and you can likewise tell them a little bit about Chop Shop.

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. We bought the brand in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a quick stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino property and worked in business finance.

I was the very first staff member there after personal equity purchased business. Helped 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 good 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 component also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all day.

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A little more complicated than some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of four stores next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

National Milestones in Corporate Scaling

I have actually been in this function for about six years. 4th, as numerous of you know, is a leading service provider of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our goal is to assist our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally offering them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are beloved and growing quickly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, among the reasons I was so excited to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I have actually only satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Store. When you talk with consumers about Chop Shop, they love the location. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex concept in terms of delivering a fantastic experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's amazing.

We're going to discuss how to scale a restaurant organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has dreams of taking one shop, two shops, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, across the state, into numerous states, and ultimately nationwide, even worldwide reach. It's not easy, specifically in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and development at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it effective? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale excellent groups?

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The very first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this two times now in the dining establishment industry. What are some of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience been in regards to what it takes to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and possibly some of the more difficult lessons you discovered.

We talked a 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 business. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brand names I have actually been involved with are unique.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're doing with a big, varied menu. Most brands today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're offering from a food product. I feel like we began at a benefit with both brand names by having something unique that filled a niche no one else was doing.

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

Restaurant Sector Shifts Redefining 2026

The second 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 innovative types. They love the food, they constructed the menu, they developed the brand name.

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

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If you do not have those 2 things, you shouldn't be constructing stores. Yeah, perhaps both, right? Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand distinction, and financial practicality. You've got to start with execution. If you don't have an operating design that works, broadening it simply increases problems.

Corporate News: New Milestones in 2026

Second, you require an engaging brand or unique idea that resonates with clients. And third, the mathematics needs to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you might be broadening blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another essential lesson is about getting in new markets.

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