Strategic Expansion Targets for 2026

Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some information about your background and you can likewise inform them a little bit about Chop Store. 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 have actually grown it to 26. After a brief stint of attempting to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and worked in business finance.

I was the first staff member there after private equity purchased business. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 areas, 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 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 drink part too 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, however we believe we've got something pretty special. We're going to add another store this year and at least 4 stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Expansion News: New Milestones for 2026

Hey, everyone. It's great to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually remained in this role for about 6 years. 4th, as a lot of you understand, is a leading company of software options to the dining establishment and hospitality market. Our goal is to assist our customers succeed in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally providing them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are cherished and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I've only met a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to clients about Chop Store, they enjoy the location. And to be able to take what is a relatively complex principle in terms of providing a terrific experience for the consumer, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 stores next yearit's amazing.

We're going to speak about how to scale a restaurant company. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one shop, 2 stores, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into numerous states, and eventually national, even international reach. It's not simple, especially in today's environment.

Labor is hard. Inventory expenses stay high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and development at the same time. However we're pleased to have you here today, Jason, due to the fact that we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be truly around: how do you grow a company? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we speak about your experience and the lessons you've learned, we 'd like to then state: well, appearance, how could innovation help? How can you utilize technology as a multiplier to duplicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale great teams? And finally, AI.

Corporate Expansion Targets for 2026

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this two times now in the restaurant market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience been in terms of what it requires to really drive success in expanding dining establishments? Tell me a little about your path, what you experienced along the way, and perhaps a few of the more difficult lessons you discovered.

We talked a little bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I have actually got a post teed up to follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing an organization. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel very fortunate, is that both brand names I've been included with are special.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Shop in regards to what we're finishing with a large, varied menu. Most brand names today are extremely singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a foodstuff. I feel like we began at a benefit with both brand names by having something special that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

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

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The second thingI originated from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They enjoy the food, they constructed the menu, they developed the brand name. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. But if you gave me something that has all those components in place, I can take it from there and put the playbook in location.

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

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If you don't have those two things, you should not be constructing stores. Yeah, perhaps both, right? Since as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and monetary practicality. You have actually got to begin with execution. If you don't have an operating model that works, broadening it simply multiplies problems.

Restaurant Sector Shifts Shaping 2026

Second, you need a compelling brand or distinct idea that resonates with clients. And 3rd, the math needs to work. If you do not understand your unit economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you may be broadening blind and losing money. Precisely. And another key lesson is about getting in brand-new markets.

When we expanded to Dallas, I expected new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too many operators presume new markets will open at full volume day one.