Out Cold: 12 Closed & Abandoned Dairy Queen Stores

Chill out, soft-serve ice cream fans, these 12 abandoned Dairy Queen stores aren’t typical of the 75-year-old chain’s 4,000+ locations worldwide.

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Founded in June of 1940, Dairy Queen has carved out a viable, sustainable, and for the most part successful niche in the fast, er, “fan food” industry. Take it from Warren Buffett – the legendary investor’s Berkshire Hathaway holding company has owned International Dairy Queen Inc outright since 1998.

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Though abandoned by Dairy Queen, the chain’s original location on 501 N. Chicago St. in Joliet, IL still stands thanks to its 2010 designation as a city landmark. Originally built in 1895, the building was a DQ until the early 1950s – subsequent tenants included a lawn-mower repair business, a furniture store, a motorcycle shop and a plumber. Since 2007 the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God has dispensed The Lord’s message at the historic location, presumably accompanied by chilled communion wafers.

More Like Ender

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“Abandon all hope, ye who enter here…” the hope of enjoying some fan food (not fast food), that is. Credit Flickr user haymarketrebel with the above photo of a closed and abandoned Dairy Queen in Tustin, CA snapped on November 20th of 2013.

Grilled, Chilled, Killed

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Traditional fixtures of small-town America, larger and more restaurant-style Dairy Queen Grill & Chill stores began to appear in 2001. The above store, located in Savannah, GA sports the revised corporate logo that debuted in 2007.

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Too big to fail? Nuh uh: Flickr user C-Bunny snapped the shuttered store in April of 2011 and noted the presence of “Closed for Renovation” and “Notice of Bankruptcy” signs plastered to the glass drive-thru window. Which is it, DQ… why not both?

Stuckey’s to be You

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Flickr user Steven Wilson (ezeiza) has the hots for Dairy Queen: his dedicated online album features over 140 photos and counting! Wilson included but a single abandoned DQ; a combination Stuckey’s/Dairy Queen store in Lindsborg, KS that judging by the overgrown landscaping has been shut for some time.