Why Is Fast Casual the Wise Move?

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

Thanks Christina. My name is Jason Morgan, CEO of Original Chop Shop. I have actually been doing this for about nine years now. We purchased the brand in 2016three unitsand I have actually grown it to 26. Prior to this, I've invested many of my career in hospitality in some shape or type. After a quick stint of trying to be an accounting professional for about a year and a half, I transitioned into gambling establishment home and operated in business finance.

I was the very first staff member there after private equity bought the service. 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 Store. My hope is that we can reproduce 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 drink element 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 complicated than a few of the walk-the-line principles that are out there, but we think we have actually got something pretty special. We're going to include another shop this year and at least four stores next year. We will be 31 or so stores by the end of next year.

The Advantages of Fast Casual Expansion in 2026

Hey, everybody. It's fantastic to be with you again. My name is Clinton Anderson. I'm the CEO here at Fourth. I have actually been in this role for about 6 years. Fourth, as much of you know, is a leading supplier of software solutions to the dining establishment and hospitality industry. Our goal is to help our clients succeed in driving profitability and being efficientmanaging labor, managing inventory, and generally offering them with tools they require to provide their vision.

It's unusual to have companies that are precious and growing quickly, that can repeat that success every year. Jason, among the factors 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 brands where there was such a strong client affinity for the brand.

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

We're going to discuss how to scale a dining establishment service. Every restaurateur I ever talk with has imagine taking one store, two shops, 5 stores, and turning it into something much biggerexpanding across the city, throughout the state, into several states, and eventually nationwide, even worldwide reach. It's not easy, particularly in today's environment.

It's not a simple time to drive success and growth at the exact same time. How do you scale it and make it effective? Second, beyond innovation, how do you scale excellent groups?

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The first concern I have for you, Jasonlook, you've done this twice now in the dining establishment market. What are some of the lessons you've found out? What has your experience remained in regards to what it requires to actually drive success in expanding dining establishments? Inform me a little about your path, what you experienced along the method, and perhaps a few of the more difficult lessons you learned.

We talked a 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 a service. To me, one of the crucial things, and I feel really lucky, is that both brands I've been involved with are distinct.

And there's absolutely nothing precisely like Chop Shop in regards to what we're doing with a large, varied menu. The majority of brand names today are very singularly focused in regards to what they're offering from a food item. I feel like we began at an advantage with both brands by having something unique that filled a niche no one else was doing.

Since it's simply harder to stand out when there are 10, 20, 50 principles within a two- or three-mile radius attempting to do the precise same thing. So a lot of it starts with the brand name. Does your brand name have something unique that nobody else is doing? That's rare.

Expansion News: New Milestones in 2026

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

They don't understand their breakeven sales. They don't comprehend how margin enhances as sales boost. They don't understand cash-on-cash returns. I have actually seen a lot of companies where the numbers just don't work. And yet people state: let's open 10 more. And I'll say: why? It does not earn money. Stop. You require to discover an idea that is unique.

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If you do not have those 2 things, you should not be constructing stores. Yeah, maybe both, right? Due to the fact that as I hear your description, you have actually highlighted three things: execution, brand differentiation, and financial viability. You've got to start with execution. If you don't have an operating model that works, expanding it just increases problems.

Key Regional Shifts for 2026 Expansion

Second, you require an engaging brand name or unique idea that resonates with consumers. And another key lesson is about going into brand-new markets.

When we broadened to Dallas, I anticipated new stores to do 5070% of Phoenix sales in the very first year. Too numerous operators presume new markets will open at full volume day one.