food chain . for the catherine gilbert murdock novel see dairy queen . this article may need to be rewritten entirely to comply with wikipedia s quality standards . you can help . the discussion page may contain suggestions . august 2016 dairy queen dairy queen in key west florida type wholly owned subsidiary industry restaurant genre fast food founded june 22 1940 ; 76 years ago 1940 06 22 joliet illinois u.s. founder john fremont mccullough 1 headquarters edina minnesota u.s. number of locations 4 800 us domestic 2014 2 area served global key people warren buffett clayton lundine john gainor ceo troy bader coo mark vinton cfo barry westrum evp marketing products soft serve fast food ice cream milkshakes sundaes hamburgers hot dogs chicken french fries soft drinks salads revenue us 2.5 billion 2008 3 number of employees 20 362 2008 parent berkshire hathaway subsidiaries orange julius karmelkorn website http www.dairyqueen.com us en footnotes references 4 dairy queen often abbreviated dq is a chain of soft serve ice cream and fast food restaurants owned by international dairy queen inc a subsidiary of berkshire hathaway . international dairy queen inc. also owns orange julius and karmelkorn . 5 the first dq restaurant was located in joliet illinois . it was operated by sherb noble and opened for business on june 22 1940 . 6 it served a variety of frozen products such as soft serve ice cream . 7 the company s corporate offices are located in the minneapolis suburb of edina minnesota . 8 9 contents 1 history 2 stores 2.1 standard stores 2.2 dq orange julius 2.3 dairy queen brazier 2.4 dq grill & chill 2.5 texas country foods 3 products 3.1 blizzard 3.2 frozen yogurt 4 advertising 4.1 logos 5 global locations 6 see also 7 notes 8 references 9 further reading 10 external links history edit the soft serve formula was first developed in 1938 by douds iowa born john fremont j.f. grandpa mccullough 1871 1963 10 and his son bradley . they convinced friend and loyal customer sherb noble to offer the product in his ice cream store in kankakee illinois . 11 on the first day of sales noble dished out more than 1 600 servings of the new dessert within two hours . 12 noble and the mcculloughs went on to open the first dairy queen store in 1940 in joliet illinois . while this dairy queen has not been in operation since the 1950s the building still stands at 501 n chicago st. as a city designated landmark . 13 since 1940 the chain has used a franchise system to expand its operations globally . in the us the state with the most dairy queen restaurants is texas . dairy queen international is the parent company of dairy queen . in the united states it operates under american dairy queen . 14 15 idq is a wholly owned subsidiary of berkshire hathaway . at the end of its fiscal year 2014 dairy queen reported over 6 400 stores in more than 25 countries ; about 4 500 of its stores approximately 70 % were located in the united states . 14 15 16 dq was an early pioneer of food franchising expanding its 10 stores in 1941 to 100 by 1947 1 446 in 1950 and 2 600 in 1955 . the first store in canada opened in melville saskatchewan in 1953 . 17 the red dairy queen symbol was introduced in 1959 . the company became international dairy queen inc. idq in 1962 . in 1987 idq bought the orange julius chain . idq was acquired by berkshire hathaway in 1998 . dairy queens were a fixture of social life in small towns of the midwestern and southern united states during the 1950s and 1960s . in that role they have often come to be referenced as a symbol of life in 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 and chevrolet summers dairy queen nights by bob greene . stores edit a dairy queen restaurant in meriden connecticut united states the company s stores are operated under several brands all bearing the distinctive dairy queen logo and carrying the company s signature soft serve ice cream along with the trademark curl . in the 1970s most restaurants were brazier locations with a second floor for storage recognizable for their red mansard roofs . as of the end of 2014 dairy queen had more than 6 400 stores in 27 countries including more than 1 400 locations outside the united states and canada . 18 the largest dairy queen in the united states is located in bloomington illinois . 19 the busiest store in the united states is in rosedale maryland . 20 the largest store in the world was built in riyadh saudi arabia . 21 the busiest store in the world is located in charlottetown prince edward island canada . 20 standard stores edit a dairy queen store in moncton new brunswick canada while some stores serve a very abbreviated menu primarily featuring dq frozen treats and may be open only during spring and summer the majority of dq restaurants also serve hot food and are open all year . so called limited brazier locations may additionally offer hot dogs barbecue beef or pork sandwiches and in some cases french fries and chicken but not hamburgers . dairy queen full brazier restaurants serve a normal fast food menu featuring burgers french fries and grilled and crispy chicken in addition to frozen treats and hot dogs . dq orange julius edit also known as the treat center concept an enhanced version of the original stores also serves drinks and foods from the orange julius menu . this was the company s preferred concept for new small scale locations primarily in shopping mall food courts . some early treat centers also included karmelkorn . since 2012 all dairy queen locations feature orange julius drinks . 22 dairy queen brazier edit a dairy queen brazier in edmonton alberta . this dq will be renovated into a grill & chill . the name brazier originated in 1957 when one of the company s franchisees jim cruikshank set out to develop the standardized food system . when he witnessed flames rising from an open charcoal grill a brazier in a new york eatery he knew he had found the brazier concept . the brazier name has been slowly phased out of signage and advertising since 1993 although it has not been removed from all existing signage especially in many smaller towns and rural locations . since the early 2000s new or renovated locations which are similar to brazier restaurants in terms of size and menu selection but have been updated with the current logo and or exterior usually carry the name dq restaurant although the website s store locator still lists the stores that do not carry the grill & chill name as dairy queen brazier and the smaller stores dairy queen ltd brazier and dairy queen stores . however the company website still considers their burger and hot dog lines as brazier foods according to the history section and some faq listed topics in the website . dq grill & chill edit dq grill & chill locations feature hot food treats table delivery and self serve soft drinks . it is the new concept for new and renovated full service restaurants . stores are larger than older style locations and feature a completely new store design . in most cases they offer an expanded menu including breakfast grillburgers and grilled sandwiches as well as limited table service customers still place orders at the counter . they also contain self serve soft drink fountains allowing free refills . some of the older stores have upgraded to the new format . however there are still older stores and stores that have not upgraded to the new format . in december 2001 chattanooga tennessee was the site of the first two dairy queen grill and chill restaurants in the united states . 23 24 25 the nation s largest dq grill & chill is located in bloomington illinois . 26 texas country foods edit a dairy queen outlet in burnet in the texas hill country using the chain s previous logo . most locations in texas including those which otherwise resemble the brazier or dq grill & chill formats use a separate hot food menu branded as texas country foods . among other differences hungr buster burgers are available in place of the brazier and grillburger offerings . other food offerings not found outside texas include the dude country fried steak sandwich steak finger country baskets t brand tacos and a one half pound double meat hamburger the beltbuster . . texas is home to the largest number of dairy queens in the u.s. all texas dairy queen restaurants are owned and operated by franchisees . the texas dairy queen operators council tdqoc runs a separate marketing website from the national website . bob phillips host of the popular texas syndicated television series texas country reporter was for many years the dq spokesman in texas as the restaurant was a co sponsor of the program at the time . products edit the company s products expanded to include malts and milkshakes in 1949 banana splits in 1951 dilly bars in 1955 mr. misty slush treats in 1961 later renamed misty slush then again to arctic rush jets curly tops freezes in 1964 and a range of hamburgers and other cooked foods under the brazier banner in 1958 . in 1971 the peanut buster parfait consisting of peanuts hot fudge and vanilla soft serve was introduced . in 1995 the chicken strip basket was introduced consisting of 4 or 6 pieces of chicken strips texas toast only in us fries and cream gravy gravy in canada . other items include sundaes and the blended coffee drink the moolatte . the majority of dairy queen locations serve pepsi products but unlike most other restaurants such contracts are not mandated onto the franchisee and as a result some locations serve coca cola products instead . wendy s until 1998 subway until 2003 arby s until 2006 ihop until 2012 and applebee s until 2012 also allowed such leniency on beverage choice before signing exclusive soft drink deals with coca cola and pepsi making dairy queen the last major restaurant chain without an exclusive soft drink contract . citation needed blizzard edit a woman holding a dairy queen banana cream pie blizzard a popular dairy queen item is the blizzard which is soft serve mechanically blended with mix in ingredients such as sundae toppings and or pieces of cookies brownies or candy . it has been a staple on the menu since its introduction in 1985 a year in which dairy queen sold more than 100 million blizzards . 27 popular blizzard flavors include oreo cookies mint oreo chocolate chip cookie dough m & m s reese s peanut butter cups heath bar skor in canada and butterfinger crispy crunch in canada . seasonal flavors are also available such as october s pumpkin pie . 28 it has been argued that dairy queen drew its inspiration from the concrete served by the st. louis based ted drewes . 29 on july 26 2010 dairy queen introduced a new mini size blizzard served in 6 oz . cups . during the 25th anniversary of the blizzard two special blizzards were released . they were strawberry golden oreo blizzard and buster bar blizzard . another one called salted caramel truffle was released during the blizzard s 30th anniversary and dairy queen s 75th anniversary . blizzards get their name from the fact that they are so cold when sold they can be held upside down and nothing will come out . employees will even