Restaurant Industry Shifts Shaping 2026

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 info about your background and you can also tell them a little bit about Chop Store.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I've been doing this for about nine years now. We bought the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I have actually spent most of my career in hospitality in some shape or type. After a brief stint of trying 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. 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 Shop. My hope is that we can duplicate the success we had at Zos, and we're off to a truly excellent 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 beverage part as well 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 ideas that are out there, but we think we've got something pretty special. We're going to add another store this year and a minimum of 4 shops next year. So we will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

Strategic Growth Milestones for 2026

Hey, everybody. It's terrific to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at 4th. I have actually remained in this function for about six years. Fourth, as numerous of you know, is a leading supplier of software application solutions to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our consumers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and generally providing them with tools they require to deliver their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are precious and growing quickly, that can duplicate 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 amazing. I have actually just fulfilled a handful of brand names where there was such a strong customer affinity for the brand.

When you talk to consumers about Chop Shop, they like the place. And to be able to take what is a fairly complex concept in terms of providing a terrific experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's fantastic.

We're going to talk about how to scale a dining establishment organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak to has dreams of taking one store, 2 shops, five stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into multiple states, and eventually nationwide, even international reach. However it's not simple, especially in today's environment.

Labor is difficult. Inventory costs remain high. It's not an easy time to drive success and development at the same time. We're glad to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to dig into that topic. The concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow a service? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you duplicate early success? And from there, after we discuss your experience and the lessons you've learned, we 'd enjoy to then state: well, appearance, how could technology help? How can you use innovation as a multiplier to reproduce early success to significant success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale excellent teams? And finally, AI.

Essential Tips to Growing Hospitality Brands

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this two times now in the dining establishment industry. What has your experience been in terms of what it takes to really drive success in broadening restaurants?

We talked a little 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 fortunate, is that both brands I have actually been involved with are special.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Store in regards to what we're doing with a big, diverse menu. Most brands today are really singularly focused in regards to what they're using from a foodstuff. I feel like we started at an advantage with both brand names by having something distinct that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

Because it's just harder to stand apart when there are 10, 20, 50 concepts within a 2- or three-mile radius trying to do the specific very same thing. So a lot of it starts with the brand. Does your brand have something distinct that no one else is doing? That's rare.

The Advantages of Fast Casual Expansion in 2026

The second thingI originated from a financing background, so a lot of my learnings are more finance and data-driven versus a great deal of early start-up restaurateurs who are innovative types. They love the food, they constructed the menu, they built the brand. I most likely could not do that from scratch. However if you gave me something that has all those components in place, 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 increase. I have actually seen so many business where the numbers just do not work.

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If you don't have those 2 things, you shouldn't be building shops. Because as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name differentiation, and monetary viability.

Significant Regional Milestones for 2026 Growth

Second, you need a compelling brand name or distinct principle that resonates with customers. And another crucial lesson is about getting in brand-new markets.

But when we broadened to Dallas, I expected new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too many operators presume brand-new markets will open at full volume day one. That almost never happens. And when the shops open sluggish, but you've signed leases and constructed a financial model based upon higher volumes, you get overextended.