Comparing Investment Models Against Growth Trends

Thank you. And we also 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 details about your background and you can also inform them a little bit about Chop Shop. And then I'll let you take it from there, Clinton.

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. I have actually been doing this for about 9 years now. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've invested the majority of my career in hospitality in some shape or type. After a short stint of attempting to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into casino residential or commercial property and operated in corporate financing.

I was the first employee there after private equity bought the company. Helped 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 Shop. My hope is that we can reproduce 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 likewise do salads, sandwiches. The key to the program is we have a drink element too with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast throughout the day.

Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers

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

Significant Market Shifts for 2026 Growth

I've been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as numerous of you know, is a leading provider of software services to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our objective is to help our customers be effective in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, handling stock, and basically supplying them with tools they need to deliver their vision.

It's uncommon to have companies that are precious and growing quickly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, among the reasons I was so fired up to have you join our session is the success at Zos was amazing. I've only met a handful of brand names where there was such a strong client 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 relatively complex concept in terms of delivering a fantastic experience for the client, and be able to grow that from a couple of shops to now north of 30 stores next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to speak about how to scale a dining establishment company. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one store, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding throughout the city, throughout the state, into numerous states, and eventually nationwide, even worldwide reach. It's not easy, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is tough. Inventory costs stay high. It's not a simple time to drive success and development at the same time. But we're thankful to have you here today, Jason, since we're going to go into that topic. The concerns are going to be actually around: how do you grow a business? How do you scale it and make it successful? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we discuss your experience and the lessons you've discovered, we 'd like to then say: well, appearance, how could innovation assist? How can you use technology as a multiplier to replicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond technology, how do you scale fantastic teams? And lastly, AI.

Expansion Updates: Regional Milestones for 2026

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

We talked a 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, one of the essential things, and I feel really fortunate, is that both brand names I've been included with are distinct.

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

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

Steps to Expand Your Restaurant Brand

The second thingI originated from a finance background, so a great deal of my learnings are more financing and data-driven versus a lot of early start-up restaurateurs who are imaginative types. They love the food, they developed the menu, they constructed the brand. I probably couldn't do that from scratch. If you provided me something that has all those elements in location, I can take it from there and put the playbook in place.

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

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

Steps to Expand a Dining Brand

Second, you need a compelling brand or unique principle that resonates with clients. And another crucial lesson is about getting in new markets.

However when we expanded to Dallas, I expected new shops to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the first year. Too lots of operators assume new markets will open at complete volume the first day. That practically never ever takes place. And when the shops open sluggish, however you have actually signed leases and built a financial design based upon higher volumes, you get overextended.