Is Fast Casual a Best Investment?

Thank you. And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of Fourth, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you provide the audience some information about your background and you can likewise inform them a little 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 Store. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. After a quick stint of attempting to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment property and worked in business financing.

I was the first worker there after personal equity bought the service. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 areas, took it public in 2014, and after that 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 drink element as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complicated than some of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, but we think we have actually got something quite unique. We're going to include another store this year and at least four shops next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Is Fast Casual the Best Investment?

I have actually been in this role for about six years. Fourth, as many of you know, is a leading service provider of software application options to the restaurant and hospitality market. Our objective is to assist our clients be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and generally supplying them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's rare to have business that are precious and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success year after year. Jason, among the reasons I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was incredible. I have actually only satisfied a handful of brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand name.

And now you're doing the same thing at Chop Shop. When you talk to clients about Chop Shop, they enjoy the location. They speak about its distinction. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complicated principle in terms of providing a terrific experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a few stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to discuss how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever talk to has imagine taking one shop, 2 shops, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into several states, and eventually national, even global reach. It's not easy, specifically in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the very same time. How do you scale it and make it effective? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific groups?

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The very 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 learned? What has your experience remained in terms of what it requires to actually drive success in broadening restaurants? Tell me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and possibly a few of the more difficult lessons you learned.

We talked a 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 an organization. To me, one of the key things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brands I have actually been included with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in regards to what we're making with a big, diverse menu. Many brand names today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're using from a food. I feel like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something special that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

Because it's just harder to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a 2- or three-mile radius attempting to do the precise very same thing. So a lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand have something special that no one else is doing? That's rare.

Key Market Shifts Shaping 2026 Expansion

The 2nd thingI came from a financing background, so a lot of my knowings are more finance 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 most likely couldn't do that from scratch. If you provided me something that has all those components in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

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

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

High-ROI Hospitality Ventures Coming in 2026

Second, you require a compelling brand or special principle that resonates with customers. And another essential lesson is about going into new markets.

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