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Posted on 07/11/2026 11:32:22 AM PDT by Libloather
America’s love affair with the Blizzard is on ice.
Since early 2025, Dairy Queen has been in a franchise meltdown, closing at least 46 locations nationwide, with Texas taking the biggest hit after the chain operator, Project Lonestar, refused to renovate its restaurants, which got them iced out of the DQ family. Between February and March alone, 42 Texas locations shut down, leaving Lone Star cravers to fend for themselves. (Or finally try a McFlurry.)
In Alaska, three DQ locations in Anchorage, Wasilla and Palmer all shuttered at the start of July, leaving the 49th state with just one Blizzard maker left, according to the Anchorage Daily News. The lone location is in Soldotna, a small city with just 4,332 residents and 200 protected acres for bears, moose, caribou and wild sheep.
Meanwhile in Great Falls, Montana, a Dairy Queen that’s been open for 39 years chose to go dark on June 13 after nearly four decades. There’s no use crying over a spilled milkshake, though. The DQ owner, Steve Galloway, is pivoting to a fast casual Mediterranean restaurant instead.
The closures come as Americans are feeling the chill at drive-thru windows nationwide. Prices for food away from home have jumped 3.5% over the past year, according to federal data, making budget-conscious customers think twice before splurging on a Peanut Buster Parfait.
Considered one of the pioneers of soft serve ice cream, Dairy Queen was founded in 1940 in Illinois before getting acquired by Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway in 1998. Today, it boasts roughly 7,800 locations in over 20 countries. And though the mainland is losing some Blizzard hotspots, the chain is reportedly plotting an expansion into Puerto Rico with 20 new “Grill & Chill” spots in the tropical U.S. territory.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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They’re food is terrible and their ice cream is over-priced.
I think DQ had Dilly Bars, which Dad sometimes would bring for a treat.
Sounds like what we used to call a tin roof sundae.
I worked at DQ when I was in my teens. It was my first real job & the owner loved me so I practically ran the store in the evenings. We have one in my town of 75,000 in AZ but I rarely go there. I’ll have to drop by before they decide to close forever.
Very similar.
Stopped in to pick up a coke at the local McD today & noticed their “5 for $5”is now “5 for 9”
DQ is soft-serve crap anyway. Hardly call it ‘ice cream’.
these were 1 qt & 1 pt per container IIRC
We really liked DQ but feel the franchise never updated. Every DQ we went to felt like it’s interior dated to the 1970s. At a certain point it isn’t nostalgic, it’s depressing.
They call it a ‘shake.’
DQ seems like a no-frills place. Did that hurt it or keep it going all these years?
I remember going in and getting a Dilly Bar; which was a round of ice cream on a stick dipped into hard shell chocolate.
A low trust society doesn’t need restaurants. We are in a low trust society. There is only one way to regain a high trust society and that is to remove the untrustworthy. FTL
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