Plus DQ History
Dairy Queen’s marketing has long linked their brand to Texas with “DQ – that’s what I like about Texas,” even though the first Dairy Queen ever opened in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois.
Texas has the most DQ restaurants in the United States with 565 locations and Ontario has the most DQ restaurants in Canada with 191 locations currently in operation.
However, here is a full list of Dairy Queen closures across the the Lone Star State now in progress:
- 301 N. 2nd Street in Canadian
- 609 W. Broadway Street in Fritch
- Highway 60 E in Panhandle
- 801 E. Park Avenue in Hereford
- 1612 U.S. Highway 70 W in Olton
- 108 Chesnut Street in Idalou
- 5441 Rufe Snow Drive in North Richland Hills
- 1509 Corsicana Highway in Hillsboro
- 200 Legacy Drive in Hewitt
- 1701 W. Pecan Street in Pflugerville
- 304 Highway 79 East in Franklin
- 4101 Gilmer Road in Longview
- 580 N. Interstate 20 E. in Waskom
- 1001 E Sabine Street in Carthage
- 175 N. Dickinson Drive in Rusk
- 3121 N. Street in Nacogdoches
- 202 N. Temple Drive in Diboll
- 602 Interstate 45 S. in Huntsville
- 14421 FM 2920 Road in Tomball
- 515 S. Washington Avenue in Cleveland
- 24022 E. Lake Houston Parkway in Huffman
- 104 Highway 90 East in Dayton
- 345 Highway 105 West in Sour Lake
- 34250 US Highway 96 South in Buna
- 2421 Valwood Parkway in Farmers Branch
DQ History
- 1949: Malts and shakes debut.
- 1951: Banana splits appear on the menu.
- 1953: First Dairy Queen restaurant opens in Canada.
- 1955: The Dilly® Bar debuts.
- 1957: The Dairy QueenBrazier® concept is introduced.
- 1959: First Dairy Queen restaurant opens in Panama.
- 1962: International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ) is formed.
- 1968: The Buster Bar® Treat appears on the menu.
- 1971: Peanut Buster® Parfait debuts on the menu.
- 1979: First Dairy Queen restaurant opens in the Middle East.
- 1984: Partnership with Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals and Children’s Miracle Network begins.
- 1985: Blizzard® Treats are introduced.
- 1988: IDQ purchases Orange Julius®Brand
- 1991: First Dairy Queen restaurant opens in Mexico.
- 1992: First Dairy Queen restaurant opens in China.
- 1995: DQ Treatzza Pizza® and Chicken Strip Basket debut.
- 1998: IDQ acquired by Berkshire Hathaway, Inc.
- 2003: The Blizzard of the Month program kicks off.
- 2005: GrillBurgers are introduced.
- 2006: First Miracle Treat Day in Canada and the U.S.
- 2010: Mini Blizzard Treats are introduced.
- 2015: The DQ system celebrates its 75th Fanniversary.
- 2018: DQ mobile app launches.
- 2019: First DQ restaurant with the Next Gen design opens.
- 2020: The Non-Dairy Dilly® Bar debuts.
International Dairy Queen Inc., (IDQ), headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the parent company of American Dairy Queen Corporation and Dairy Queen Canada, Inc.
Through its subsidiaries, IDQ develops, licenses and services a system of more than 7,700 DQ restaurants in more than 20 countries.
IDQ is a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., which is led by Warren Buffett, the legendary investor and CEO of Berkshire.
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Sad news!
LikeLiked by 4 people
Well, if you’re on a tight budget and it’s between buying eggs or a Dairy Queen treat-why would you buy eggs!!! 🙂
LikeLiked by 2 people
😂💯
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is devastating news. Dairy Queen was part of my childhood. Burger and a Vanilla shake. We had a Dairy Queen in Plano in 1964, it was the only restaurant in town and was considered “fine dining.” Us teens would go through the drive-thru, get our order and then burn rubber as we pulled out onto the street: it was mandatory, a Texas muscle car thang. We have one in Granbury and I see it’s not on the list, so I’m relieved.
LikeLiked by 4 people
Burning rubber & Burning Love were both mandatort back in the day.
LikeLiked by 2 people
My best pal, Jarry Boy Davis got a 1965 stick shift Mustang. Of course we had to hit the DQ. In line, got our Coke, or maybe a DP, circled around the bldg, pulled out on to Ave K, hit it hard, burned some rubber and then he rear ended a Caddie. Trashed the new Mustang that was only a few days old, still had the window sticker.
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Oh my word. That makes me nauseous.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It’s really too bad they can’t hang on a little longer; things will be turning around. But I get it: I have a friend who works at McDonald’s here in town, and she says they’ve cut back their workers’ hours so much a lot of the staff are having trouble buying groceries.
I remember going to Dairy Queens on our way across country when I was a kid, but we just got the cones, and thought it was a really big deal. That’s the last time I’ve been, although I did see one in Maine last summer. The menu looks so good I may have to try it; hope they stay open!
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes, like many places, the menu items are not what they used to be.
LikeLiked by 1 person
It seems like every day some company or store is going out of business. So many restaurants, big stores and now Joann’s Fabrics!! What in the world is going on????
LikeLiked by 2 people
Sad, isn’t it?
LikeLiked by 2 people
we had one in the town i grew up in on the main road going thru town, they had the best burgers, bigger than the ones now and they were flames broiled with sesame seed buns, just marvelous, there onion rings were real onions and there fries were also great, check it out the owner had a 67 navy blue GTO, i had a 69 Roadrunner and he wouldn’t race me, it was also a hand out place like American Graffiti, unfortunately it went away
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Good memories and I can picture both cars in my memory. Thanks.
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