Famous American ice cream chain Dairy Queen has announced “shocking” closure after over eight decades.
Dairy Queen has confirmed several more closures after shutting a handful of branches in the United States last week.
According to The US Sun, after closing dozens of locations last year, the ice cream chain announced several more closures this year, including in Maryland, Arizona, and Georgia.
The company has recently revealed the names of three more places it has added to the list of closures.
In an email, the company wrote, “The franchise owner of the Anchorage, Wasilla, and Palmer locations recently closed them.”
Dairy Queen owner calls closure 'shocking'
The owner of the remaining Dairy Queen, Pete Ischi, described the big shutdown “shocking,” adding that someone offered to sell him the three Dairy Queens, but he said no.
Ischi said, “We had been approached by corporate about possibly buying one or all three of the stores, but we elected not to do it because it’s just too far away for us to operate effectively.”
“We pay freight to get stuff up to Alaska, where Oregon and Washington, you know, have the distributors an hour away. You’ve got to be really diligent, I think, to survive,” he added.
The 86-year-old ice cream chain has closed 46 locations across the US since early 2025.
After the most recent closing in June, now there is only one Dairy Queen remaining in Alaska, which is located in Soldotna. All the rest of the other outlets in the state were shut down last month.
The closures reflect broader challenges facing the restaurant industry in 2025 and 2026. Rising costs, labor pressures, and shifting consumer spending patterns have forced many chains to reassess their footprint.
As per IBISWorld, the ice cream shop sector grew by 5.8% to $7.4 billion in the five years through 2025.
