Key Strategies for Expanding Hospitality Footprints

And we likewise have Clinton Anderson, the CEO of 4th, who will be moderating the discussion 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 Store. We bought the brand name 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 corporate financing.

I was the very first staff member there after private equity purchased the service. 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 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. The secret to the program is we have a beverage part as well with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes.

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A little more complicated than a few of the walk-the-line ideas that are out there, however we think we have actually got something quite unique. 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.

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I've been in this role for about 6 years. 4th, as many of you understand, is a leading provider of software services to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our objective is to help our clients be effective in driving success and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and basically supplying them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are beloved and growing quickly, 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 amazing. I've just satisfied a handful of brands where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand name.

When you talk to customers about Chop Shop, they love the place. And to be able to take what is a relatively complicated 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 service. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one shop, two shops, 5 shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and ultimately nationwide, even international reach. It's not simple, particularly in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Stock expenses remain high. It's not a simple time to drive success and development at the same time. We're happy to have you here today, Jason, because we're going to dig into that topic. The questions are going to be actually around: how do you grow a service? 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 like to then say: well, appearance, how could technology help? How can you utilize innovation as a multiplier to replicate early success to far-reaching success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale terrific teams? And finally, AI.

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The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the restaurant market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience remained in terms of what it requires to truly drive success in broadening restaurants? Tell me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and perhaps some of the harder lessons you learned.

We talked a little bit before we started 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, among the key things, and I feel very lucky, is that both brand names I've been included with are unique.

And there's absolutely nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're doing with a big, diverse menu. A lot of brand names today are very singularly focused in terms of what they're providing from a foodstuff. I feel like we started at a benefit with both brands by having something unique that filled a specific niche nobody else was doing.

Due to the fact that it's just harder to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a 2- or three-mile radius trying to do the exact same thing. So a great deal of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand name have something distinct that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

Expansion Updates: Regional Milestones in 2026

The 2nd thingI originated from a financing background, so a great deal of my knowings are more financing and data-driven versus a great deal of early startup restaurateurs who are innovative types. They like the food, they built the menu, they developed the brand name. I probably could not do that from scratch. If you gave me something that has all those parts in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They do not comprehend how margin improves as sales boost. I have actually seen so lots of business where the numbers just don't work.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you should not be building stores. Because as I hear your description, you've highlighted 3 things: execution, brand differentiation, and financial practicality.

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Second, you require an engaging brand name or unique idea that resonates with clients. And third, the math needs to work. If you don't understand your unit economics, your repaired and variable expenses, you may be expanding blind and losing cash. Exactly. And another key lesson has to do with entering brand-new markets.

However when we expanded to Dallas, I anticipated new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too many operators presume new markets will open at full volume day one. That nearly never ever happens. And when the shops open slow, however you've signed leases and developed a financial design based upon higher volumes, you get overextended.