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

My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Store. We purchased the brand name in 2016three unitsand I've grown it to 26. After a brief stint of trying to be an accountant for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment residential or commercial property and worked in corporate financing.

I was the first staff member there after private equity purchased business. Helped grow that from 20 to 150 places, took it public in 2014, and then 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 great start.

We're at the counter, we bring the food to the table. It is primarily protein bowlsabout 40 percent of the mix. We likewise do salads, sandwiches. The secret to the program is we have a beverage part also with fresh-squeezed juices and protein shakes. We do all stables, we do breakfast all the time.

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A little more complex than some of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we believe we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to include another shop this year and a minimum of 4 stores next year. We will be 31 or so shops by the end of next year.

Leading Investment Prospects in 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 a lot of you understand, is a leading company of software application solutions to the restaurant and hospitality industry. Our goal is to assist our consumers succeed in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, handling inventory, and basically providing them with tools they need to provide their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are cherished and growing quickly, that can duplicate that success every year. Jason, one of the factors I was so ecstatic to have you join our session is the success at Zos was fantastic. I have actually only fulfilled a handful of brands where there was such a strong consumer 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 reasonably complex concept in terms of providing a fantastic experience for the customer, and be able to grow that from a couple of stores to now north of 30 shops next yearit's remarkable.

We're going to discuss how to scale a restaurant organization. Every restaurateur I ever speak with has imagine taking one shop, 2 stores, five shops, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into numerous states, and eventually nationwide, even international reach. But it's not simple, specifically in today's environment.

Labor is tough. Inventory expenses remain high. It's not an easy time to drive profitability and development at the very same time. But we're grateful to have you here today, Jason, because we're going to go into that topic. The questions are going to be actually around: how do you grow a company? How do you scale it and make it effective? How do you replicate early success? And from there, after we discuss your experience and the lessons you've learned, we 'd love to then state: well, appearance, how could innovation help? How can you utilize technology as a multiplier to duplicate early success to significant success? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale fantastic teams? And lastly, AI.

Key Regional Shifts for 2026 Expansion

The first question I have for you, Jasonlook, you have actually done this twice now in the dining establishment industry. What are some of the lessons you've learned? What has your experience remained in terms of what it requires to truly drive success in broadening restaurants? Tell me a little about your course, what you experienced along the way, and perhaps some of the harder lessons you learned.

We talked a little bit before we began about LinkedIn, and I've got a post teed approximately follow this next week about what the playbook is likepoint by pointfor growing an organization. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel extremely lucky, is that both brands I have actually been included with are unique.

And there's nothing exactly like Chop Shop in terms of what we're doing with a large, diverse menu. A lot of brands today are extremely singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food. I seem like we began at an advantage with both brand names by having something special that filled a niche nobody else was doing.

Due to the fact that it's simply harder to stick out when there are 10, 20, 50 ideas within a two- or three-mile radius trying to do the precise same thing. A lot of it begins with the brand name. Does your brand name have something unique that no one else is doing? That's unusual.

Expansion News: New Milestones in 2026

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

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

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If you don't have those 2 things, you shouldn't be developing shops. Since as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand name differentiation, and financial practicality.

Corporate News: Regional Milestones in 2026

Second, you need a compelling brand or special idea that resonates with consumers. And another crucial lesson is about going into brand-new markets.

However when we expanded to Dallas, I expected new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. A lot of operators presume new markets will open at complete volume day one. That practically never takes place. And when the shops open sluggish, however you've signed leases and constructed a financial model based upon higher volumes, you get overextended.