Year began: 1940 Franchising since: 1944
Ice cream manufacturer JF McCullough was experimenting with a recipe for a new frozen dairy product, stemming from his belief that ice cream tasted better when it was soft and served fresh from the freezer, not frozen solid. With his recipe perfected, McCullough and his son Alex approached one of their customers about holding an introductory sale of the new soft ice cream. At the first sale, more than 1,600 people lined up to try the new ice cream.
Based on that initial success, the McCulloughs opened the first Dairy Queen location in 1940 in Joliet, Illinois. The first stores sold only soft-serve ice cream--in sundaes, take-home pints and quarts, and cones--but over the years, a variety of ice cream treats were added to the menu, such as banana splits and Dilly Bars.
In the 1950s, some Dairy Queens began serving hot food items. Today, stores systemwide have menus that include hot dogs, hamburgers and chicken strips through Dairy Queen’s Brazier concept. Franchisees can operate a Dairy Queen with or without a Brazier. The company also offers its Treat Center concept, a store that sells items from the three franchise companies it owns--Dairy Queen, Orange Julius and Karmelkorn.
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