Since early 2025, Dairy Queen has been in a franchise meltdown, closing at least 46 locations nationwide, with Texas taking the biggest hit. After Project Lonestar, the franchise operator, refused to renovate its restaurants, the got iced out of the DQ family. In Alaska, three DQ locations in Anchorage, Wasilla and Palmer all shuttered at the start of July, leaving the 49th state with just one Blizzard maker left. The lone location is in Soldotna, a small city with just 4,332 residents and 200 protected acres for bears, moose, caribou and wild sheep. Franchise owner Pete Ischi said he had been approached by corporate about possibly buying one or all three of the other stores, but elected not to because they’re just too far away for him to operate effectively. Operating a Dairy Queen in Alaska can be challenging, with huge costs for transporting food to the state. Sales at the Soldotna Dairy Queen are going strong and Ischi has no plans to close the franchise, especially after owning it for 40 years. The closures appear unrelated to anything happening with the chain internationally, which is doing well. The Dairy Queen chain is owned by Berkshire Hathaway and consists of more than 7,800 locations in over 20 countries.
