Category: Dairy Queen

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Add Phoenix, Arizona to the list of cities that will have an expanded presence for Dairy Queen. Five new DQ Grill & Chill restaurants are planned for the Phoenix metro area.

Locations already opening in the West Valley, and Surprise and Goodyear will be opening by the end of December.

The emphasis on the Phoenix area comes as the city of Surprise ranked number five on a list of fastest growing cities in the United States.

Additional locations will be opening their doors in 2017, including Laveen, which will open in January, and two restaurants in Chandler in March and October.

Other locations are planned in Tempe, Gilbert, Scottsdale, Mesa and Glendale.

All the new Dairy Queen’s will be franchises, in keeping with Dairy Queen’s strategy to avoid company-owned stores. The chain has only three company-owned locations among its over 6,000 locations worldwide.

Other cities and states that have seen the “Fan Food” and frozen treats chain announce big expansion plans include Massachusetts, South Carolina, California, as well as Upstate New York, Chicago, and Knoxville, Tennessee.

For more information on Dairy Queen’s world-wide plans, read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Good news for ice cream lovers! California’s San Diego County will double the number of Dairy Queens over the next five years.

Dairy Queen plans to open two new Dairy Queens per year with the first one to open by the end of 2017. All of the locations will be “DQ Grill & Chill” restaurants.

Dairy Queen has a long history in the San Diego area, with its 12260 Woodside Avenue location in Lakeside going all the way back to 1958.

The challenge is finding suitable locations due to the high cost of real estate in the area.

A Grill & Chill outlet ranges in size from 1,886 – 2,612 sq ft and requires a lot size of 20,952 – 29,670 sq ft.

Major California Expansion

Dairy Queen is also planning to triple its northern California locations, adding another 200 locations to its existing 98 locations, as Dairy Queen hasn’t been a common sight in the Bay area, with only 12 locations currently open.

In all, Dairy Queen, which has moved from a summer treats business to a year-round food and ice cream business model, plans to add 400 locations in California.

For more information read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Dairy Queen has big plans for Riverside County, California. Fourteen new Dairy Queen “Grill & Chill” restaurants will be developed in the area over the next five to ten years.

Currently, Blizzard lovers have to be satisfied with a tiny walk-up only stand that dates from the 1950s. While it’s charming, it doesn’t showcase the DQ experience that has greatly boosted the companies sit-down business.

Dairy Queen is aggressively looking for franchisees for underserved areas, and the Riverside area is one of its top priorities.

The first of the new DQ Grill and Chills was opened in Cathedral City in September 2015, and a lot more will be coming.

Major California Expansion

Dairy Queen is also planning to triple its northern California locations, adding another 200 locations to its existing 98 locations, as Dairy Queen hasn’t been a common sight in the Bay area, with only 12 locations currently open.

In all, Dairy Queen, which has moved from a summer treats business to a year-round food and ice cream business model, plans to add 400 locations in California.

For more information read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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The Buffalo Niagara area of Upstate New York could see as many as 100 new Dairy Queen restaurants over the next decade.

All the locations would be Dairy Queen’s Grill & Chill restaurants, and Dairy Queen is currently looking for local franchise operators in the Upstate area.

In March, 2016, Dairy Queen announced plans to rollout 60 new stores in nearby Massachusetts. Potential locations include the towns of Taughton, Peabody, Burlington, Plymouth, and the city of Worcester.

For more information read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Dairy Queen has unveiled a new line of oven-hot snacks, a first in the quick-service restaurant category. With the introduction of the DQ Bakes!® Snacks Menu, the brand is aimed at today’s on-the-go consumer looking for higher quality snacking options such as soft pretzels with zesty queso, potato skins and snack melts.

The new DQ Bakes! Snacks Menu is the first menu enhancement to come out of the DQ Bakes! Institute. The DQ Bakes! Institute was established in 2015 to inspire, develop and enhance innovation from the DQ kitchen. The DQ Bakes! Institute creates new and unique taste experiences fans can’t get anywhere else and made-to-order innovations served straight from the DQ oven.

“In developing the DQ Bakes! Snacks Menu, it was important for us to show these items are not simply smaller versions of products we currently offer like others routinely do in our category,” said Barry Westrum, Executive Vice President of Marketing for American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ). “Instead, they are two brand new snacks created with distinct cravings in mind. We know Millennials enjoy snacking throughout the day and relied on that insight to create a high-quality menu specifically made for snacking. Our snack menu continues to prove that the DQ brand truly listens to our Fans when creating new menu items.”

The snacks include:

• Soft pretzel sticks with zesty queso: Three soft pretzel sticks, served hot from the oven, topped with salt and served with warm zesty queso dipping sauce.
• Potato skins: Potato skins served hot from the oven filled with zesty queso cheese sauce, bacon bits, cheddar cheese and seasoned with a dash of salt & pepper.
• Buffalo chicken snack melt: Grilled chicken, buffalo sauce, ranch dressing and melted cheddar cheese inside a tortilla toasted to perfection.
• Chicken bacon BBQ snack melt: Grilled chicken, BBQ sauce, bacon and melted cheddar cheese inside a tortilla toasted to perfection.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Cool treats will be coming to Caribbean island locales. Dairy Queen has announced it will open a total of 24 locations within the next five years in five countries in the Caribbean.

Plans call for the development of DQ Grill & Chill locations in Trinidad and Tobago, DQ Grill & Chill and DQ Treat locations in Jamaica, and DQ Treat locations in St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Maarten.

Currently, there are eight DQ Treat locations in Trinidad, the first of which opened in 2012.

“The international marketplace continues to be a huge opportunity for growth for the DQ system,” says John Gainor, President and CEO of International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ). “We’ll be introducing our DQ Grill & Chill concept to fans in Trinidad and expanding the DQ brand in Jamaica. Our presence in these warm weather countries is a perfect fit for us.”

Royal Treats Ltd., which currently operates eight DQ Treat locations throughout Trinidad and Tobago, has signed a multi-unit, multi-country agreement with American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ) to develop the new locations.

“We are excited to be expanding this iconic brand’s footprint,” says John Gillette of the family-owned Royal Treats Ltd. “Residents and tourists will now have more opportunities to experience the same exceptional treats and menu items that they have come to know and expect from the DQ system.”

The DQ system has more than 6,700 locations with more than 2,200 of those units operating outside of the United States.

For more information on Dairy Queen’s world-wide plans, read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Dairy Queen is bringing its Grill & Chill restaurants back to Knoxville, Tennessee.

Local franchisee Fourteen Foods is planning a DQ Grill & Chill in the former Farragut Krispy Kreme store that was located at 11208 Kingston Pike.

Currently, there are two new Dairy Queen stores under construction in the east Tennessee towns of Seymour and Morristown.

Fourteen Foods is a multi-unit owner and operator of 176 DQ Grill & Chill restaurants and Dairy Queen Braziers in Alabama, Florida, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Nebraska, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wisconsin.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Dairy Queen is planning to add 30-35 new locations in Chicago. The exact locations are still to be determined and will be built over the next five years.

The Chicago stores will be in Chicago and in Lake and Cook counties. Dairy Queen currently has 269 stores in Illinois with 20 in the Chicago area.

A company spokesman cited the popularity of Dairy Queen and that the company just needed to make it more convenient for people to find a nearby store.

The Berkshire Hathaway-owned company has already announced aggressive expansion plans that will see it opening hundreds of new locations in California, Louisiana, Massachusetts and South Carolina.

For more information read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

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Add Dairy Queen to the list of restaurants pushing a coffee lineup to compete with Dunkin Donuts, Starbucks, and McDonald’s.

The company is also trying to lure customers in at a traditionally slow time of day through a new campaign that focuses on the period between lunch and dinner.

The afternoon-snack daypart is seen by Quick Service Restaurant experts as one of the major growth opportunities in the category, after competition has heated up for breakfast and late-night business.

The Dairy Queen® system is now offering iced coffee and frappés for the first time nationally in the U.S., as a part of the launch of its new campaign called “The Hardest Working Happy Hour,” which makes special prices available weekdays at participating U.S. locations from 2 to 5 p.m.

Dairy Queen is offering its fans the choice of a new Vanilla, Salted Caramel or Mocha flavored Iced Coffee; new OREO®, Caramel Chip or Midnight Mocha DQ Ultimate Frappés; and Strawberry Banana, Tripleberry®, Mango Pineapple and the new Strawberry Watermelon Orange Julius® Premium Fruit Smoothies at one of the best values in the industry.

The small flavored Iced Coffees are only $1, and the small, blended to perfection new DQ Ultimate Frappés and small Orange Julius® Premium Fruit Smoothies are just $2 weekdays from 2 to 5 p.m. at participating locations.

While the beverages are available all day, they are value priced only during Happy Hour.

“This is our biggest beverage launch ever and happy hour is a very competitive day-part across all restaurant brands. We’ve really differentiated ourselves from other QSR and beverage competitor happy hour programs by creating a stir in our space with variety, value and taste,” said Barry Westrum, executive vice president of Marketing for American Dairy Queen Corporation (ADQ).

“Our fans want something different and better and at our DQ locations they can now treat themselves to the unbelievable every day. With our Hardest Working Happy Hour, fans will find quality, portable iced coffee DQ Ultimate Frappés and smoothie beverages at a great price and offered in a uniquely DQ way. It’s an extra indulgence during the day that’s perfect as an afternoon on-the-go pick-me-up.”

In 1998, Berkshire Hathaway acquired Dairy Queen for $585 million in cash and stock. At the time there were 5,790 locations in the U.S. and internationally. There are now some 6,700 locations worldwide.

For an in depth look at Dairy Queen read a Mazor’sEdge special report on Dairy Queen.

© 2016 David Mazor

Disclosure: David Mazor is a freelance writer focusing on Berkshire Hathaway. The author is long in Berkshire Hathaway, and this article is not a recommendation on whether to buy or sell the stock. The information contained in this article should not be construed as personalized or individualized investment advice. Past performance is no guarantee of future results.