Is Your Road Trip Dairy Queen Spot In Danger Of Closing?
DQ, it may be what people like about Texas but there may be less locations to like pretty soon. A franchisee's recent bankruptcy filing has some worried. Vasari, LLC was the owner of 70 Dairy Queens in Texas, New Mexico and Oklahoma. The majority of their locations were in Texas, which isn't surprising considering there's 585 locations in the Lone Star state. That's more Dairy Queens in Texas than any other state. The company filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2017 and closed almost 30 stores. This has lead many to wonder what is the fate for the rest of Vasari's DQ locations and if they have the ability to be profitable if a new franchisee decides to purchase them.
The company blamed the closures on "declining oil prices" and the affects of Hurricane Harvey but most stores that closed weren't in the path of the storm and only 3 were near oil country. When looking deeper into the bankruptcy papers, "operating costs" come up and that may be the real reason to blame. Texas Monthly looked deeper and the costs of getting the perishable products to the DQs that are far from the main interstates can cost a pretty penny. Profit margins from these Dairy Queens may have been small and the costs to operate may have been greater. With the closing of the Dairy Queens in rural, Texas communities many are worried for the fate of not only the iconic brand but the small towns as well. Dairy Queens are employers and a staple in those communities that many don't want to see become an abandoned building and a remnant of a better time. Only time will tell what will be the fate of Vasari's remaining Dairy Queen locations.