Profitable Hospitality Investments Coming in 2026

And we also have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the discussion with Jason. Jason, how about I let you offer the audience some details about your background and you can also inform them a little bit about Chop Store.

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 short stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and worked in business finance.

I was the very first staff member there after private equity bought the company. Assisted grow that from 20 to 150 places, 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 duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a really 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 also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all day.

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

Corporate Updates: Regional Milestones in 2026

Hey, everyone. It's fantastic to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I've remained in this function for about six years. Fourth, as a lot of you know, is a leading provider of software application services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our consumers be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and essentially offering them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's rare to have companies that are beloved and growing rapidly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, one of the reasons I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong consumer affinity for the brand.

When you talk to clients about Chop Shop, they like the location. And to be able to take what is a reasonably complex principle in terms of providing a great experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 shops next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to talk about how to scale a restaurant company. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has imagine taking one store, two stores, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, across the state, into several states, and ultimately national, even global reach. However it's difficult, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory expenses remain high. It's not a simple time to drive profitability and growth at the same time. We're delighted to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that subject. The questions are going to be actually around: how do you grow a company? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we talk about your experience and the lessons you've found out, we 'd love to then state: well, look, how could innovation assist? How can you use innovation as a multiplier to replicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale great groups? And last but not least, AI.

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The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this twice now in the restaurant industry. What are some of the lessons you've discovered? What has your experience remained in regards to what it requires to truly drive success in broadening dining establishments? Tell me a little about your path, what you experienced along the way, and possibly a few of the more difficult lessons you learned.

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 service. To me, one of the essential things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brand names I've been included with are special.

And there's nothing precisely like Chop Store in regards to what we're making with a large, varied menu. Many brands today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food product. I feel like we started at an advantage with both brands by having something special that filled a niche no one else was doing.

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

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

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

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If you do not have those 2 things, you shouldn't be constructing shops. Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand differentiation, and financial practicality.

Corporate Updates: Regional Developments in 2026

Second, you require an engaging brand or unique concept that resonates with clients. And another essential lesson is about entering new markets.

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