International Dairy Queen, Inc. (DQ) is an American multinational fast food restaurant chain founded in 1940 and headquartered in Bloomington, Minnesota.[4][5] The first Dairy Queen was owned and operated by Sherb Noble and opened on June 22, 1940, in Joliet, Illinois.[6][7] It serves a variety of hot and fried food, as well as original frozen dairy products that vary from location to location.[8]
The company has been owned by Berkshire Hathaway since 1998.
History
The soft-serve formula was first developed in 1938 by John Fremont "J.F." McCullough and his son Alex. They convinced friend and loyal customer Sherb Noble to offer the product in his ice cream store in Kankakee, Illinois.[9] On the first day of sales, Noble sold more than 1,600 servings of the new dessert within two hours.[10] Noble and the McCulloughs went on to open the first Dairy Queen store in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois. It closed in the 1950s, but the 501 N Chicago Street building is a city-designated landmark.[11]
Since 1940, the chain has used a franchise system to expand its operations globally. The first ten stores in 1941 grew to 100 by 1947, 1,446 in 1950, and 2,600 in 1955. Canada's first location was at a "quick freeze plant" in Melville, Saskatchewan, 1952, followed by a standalone store in Estevan in 1953.[12] The oldest surviving freestanding location opened in Port Colborne, 1954.[13]
The company became International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ) in 1962. IDQ is the parent company of American Dairy Queen Corporation (often abbreviated "Am. D.Q. Corp." in the chain's legal disclaimers), Dairy Queen Canada Inc., and other entities that franchise the Dairy Queen concept.[14][15][16]
In 1987, IDQ bought the Orange Julius chain. IDQ was acquired by Berkshire Hathaway in 1998.[17] In the 1990s, investors bought Dairy Queen stores that were individually owned, intending to increase profitability through economies of scale. Vasari, LLC became the second-largest Dairy Queen operator in the country and operated 70 Dairy Queens across Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. When stores were not profitable, the firm closed them. On October 30, 2017, Vasari LLC filed for bankruptcy and announced it was closing 29 DQ stores, including ten in the Texas Panhandle.[18]
In the US, the state with the most Dairy Queen restaurants is Texas. Using the 2010 census, the state with the most Dairy Queen restaurants per person is Minnesota.[19][20] At the end of fiscal year 2014, Dairy Queen reported over 6,400 stores in more than 25 countries; about 4,500 of them (approximately 70%) were in the United States.[15][16][21]
Dairy Queens were a fixture of social life in small Midwestern and Southern United States towns during the 1950s and 1960s. They have often been reflected in stories and memoirs of small-town America, as in Walter Benjamin at the Dairy Queen: Reflections at Sixty and Beyond by Larry McMurtry, Dairy Queen Days by Robert Inman,[22] Chevrolet Summers, Dairy Queen Nights by Bob Greene, and The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton including the film adaptation by Francis Ford Coppola.
Stores
The company's stores are operated under several brands, all bearing the Dairy Queen logo and carrying the company's signature soft-serve. "Brazier" locations, with expanded food menus and second floors for storage, are recognizable by their red mansard roofs.
By the end of 2014, Dairy Queen had more than 6,400 stores in 27 countries, including more than 1,400 outside the United States and Canada.[23]
The largest Dairy Queen in the US is in Bloomington, Illinois.[24] The largest in the world is in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.[25]
Standard stores
While some stores serve a very abbreviated menu primarily featuring DQ frozen treats and may be open only during spring, summer, and fall,[26]
Products
The company's products expanded to include malts and milkshakes in 1950, banana splits in 1951, Dilly Bars in 1955 (introduced to the franchise by Robert Litherland, the co-owner of a store in Moorhead, Minnesota), a range of hamburgers and other cooked foods under the Brazier banner in 1958, Mr. Misty slush treats in 1961 (later renamed Misty Slush, then again to Arctic Rush; as of 2017, DQ again calls them Misty Slush, as seen on dairyqueen.com), and Jets, Curly Tops, Freezes in 1964. In 1962, the Buster Bar, consisting of vanilla soft serve in the shape of a small cup with a layer of and covered with peanuts and chocolate, was invented by David Skjerven in Grafton, North Dakota. In 1971, the Peanut Buster Parfait, consisting of peanuts, hot fudge, and vanilla soft serve, was introduced by Forrest 'Frosty' Chapman in his St. Peter, Minnesota Franchise. In 1990, the Breeze, a dessert like a Blizzard but was made with non-fat, cholesterol-free yogurt, was launched. This was pulled from stores in 2000. In 1995, the Chicken Strip Basket was introduced, consisting of chicken strips, Texas toast (only in the US), fries, and cream gravy (gravy in Canada). Other items include sundaes and the blended coffee drink, the MooLatte. Another sundae made by Dairy Queen is the peanut buster parfait, thoroughly enjoyed and invented by Patsy Franks in 1969.
DQ does not use the term "ice cream" in reference to its frozen dairy products. US Food and Drug Administration labeling regulations for ice cream require a minimum standard of 10% butterfat content, and DQ's soft-serve contains only 5% butterfat.[37]
Blizzard
Advertising
"Little Miss Dairy Queen" began appearing in Pennsylvania signage in 1961.[51] She had a Dutch bonnet, resembling the ellipse logo, with a pinafore apron over her dress and wooden shoes.
Dennis the Menace appeared in Dairy Queen marketing from 1971 until December 2002, when he was dropped because Dairy Queen felt children could no longer relate to him.[52][53] From 2006 to July 2011, the advertising focused on a large mouth with its tongue licking its large lips, which morphs into the Dairy Queen logo. The mouth was dropped in 2011 after Grey New York produced outlandish spots featuring a dapper man, played by John Behlmann, sporting a mustache, performing crazy feats for Dairy Queen replacing it. After announcing tasty menu offers, he would do something outrageous, like blow bubbles with kittens in them, water ski while boxing, or break a piñata, out of which tumbles Olympic gymnastics great Mary Lou Retton. Later, the same firm made additional commercials based around odd situation titles with the DQ logo placed somewhere in them. All were narrated by a man with an English accent.
In Texas, at the end of advertisements, there is frequently a Texas flag waving, and the new DQ logo and slogan below saying, "Eat Like A Texan."
See also
- Fosters Freeze
- List of fast food restaurant chains
- List of hamburger restaurants
- List of hot dog restaurants
- Miracle Treat Day (Dairy Queen)
- Sonic Drive-In
Further reading
External links
References
- Pallack, Becky. Sweet success for Flagstaff ice cream parlor owners Arizona Daily Sun, July 15, 2018, retrieved December 27, 2018^
- Dairy Queen Franchise Opportunities retrieved November 2, 2018^
- The 23 Biggest Fast-Food Chains in America