(BRK.A), (BRK.B)
This coming summer will be a bit sadder in a whole bunch of small Texas towns. Famous for its beloved Blizzard® Treat and Dilly® Bar, Dairy Queen has long been a favorite among ice cream and fast-food lovers. However, 25 DQ restaurants in Texas closed last week and 24 were put up for auction by the franchise owner.
Founded in 1940, the first Dairy Queen® restaurant in Joliet, Illinois, and has since become a global brand owned by Berkshire Hathaway.
The contents of the shuttered Texas restaurants are now up for auction, with bidding set for Thursday, February 20, at 12:00 PM CT. Winning bidders must remove their purchases by February 25.
A spokesperson for American Dairy Queen Corporation shared, “We can confirm that 25 DQ restaurants in the Texas Panhandle, North Texas, and West Texas/South Plains–owned by a single franchise owner–closed last week. The franchise owner continues to own and operate other DQ restaurants in Texas. It was this franchise owner’s decision to participate in an online auction.”
The spokesperson further noted that the closures were an isolated event, and that the company refrains from publicly sharing contract terms.
International
Dairy Queen, a subsidiary of Berkshire Hathaway since its $585 million acquisition in 1997, has expanded significantly to over 7,700 DQ restaurants in more than 20 countries, with notable growth in China.
© 2025 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.