Why Is Fast Casual a Best Investment?

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the conversation with Jason. Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some information 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 Store. 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 invested many of my career in hospitality in some shape or kind. After a short stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and operated in business finance.

I was the first worker there after personal equity purchased business. Helped 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 a really great 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.

A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line concepts that are out there, however we believe we've got something quite unique. We're going to include another shop this year and at least 4 shops next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Quick Service Market Share Growth

I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. 4th, as numerous of you understand, is a leading provider of software application options to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our customers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing stock, and generally providing them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's uncommon to have business that are beloved and growing rapidly, that can duplicate that success year after year. Jason, one of the factors I was so thrilled to have you join our session is the success at Zos was remarkable. I have actually just satisfied a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand.

And now you're doing the very same thing at Chop Shop. When you talk with customers about Chop Shop, they enjoy the place. They speak about its differentiation. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex principle in regards to delivering a great experience for the customer, and have the ability to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's amazing.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment business. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has imagine taking one store, 2 stores, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, across the state, into several states, and eventually national, even international reach. However it's difficult, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory costs stay high. It's not an easy time to drive profitability and development at the exact same time. We're happy to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be really around: how do you grow a business? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we talk about your experience and the lessons you've discovered, we 'd enjoy to then state: well, look, how could technology assist? How can you utilize technology as a multiplier to duplicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale terrific teams? And last but not least, AI.

Expansion News: New Developments for 2026

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this twice now in the dining establishment market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience been in regards to what it takes to actually drive success in broadening restaurants? Inform me a little about your path, what you experienced along the way, and maybe some of the harder lessons you discovered.

We talked a bit before we began 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, among the key things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brands I've been included with are distinct.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in terms of what we're finishing with a big, varied menu. A lot of brand names today are really singularly focused in terms of what they're using from a food item. I seem like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something special that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

Since it's simply more difficult to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the precise very same thing. A lot of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand have something distinct that no one else is doing? That's rare.

High-ROI Hospitality Investments Coming in 2026

The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my knowings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They enjoy the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand name.

They do not understand their breakeven sales. They don't understand how margin enhances as sales boost. I have actually seen so many business where the numbers simply do not work.

If you do not have those two things, you should not be constructing stores. Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted three things: execution, brand name distinction, and financial practicality.

Restaurant Sector Trends Redefining 2026

Second, you need an engaging brand or distinct idea that resonates with customers. And 3rd, the math has to work. If you do not understand your system economics, your repaired and variable costs, you might be broadening blind and losing cash. Precisely. And another crucial lesson has to do with getting in new markets.

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