---
title: "QSR Magazine: Dairy Queen Celebrates Record Year of Growth in 2016"
url: https://burnaze.com/article/cbb58093-ef1e-47ce-ab10-83777f331b1d
source: "1851 Franchise"
original_url: https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-dairy-queen-celebrates-record-year-of-growth-in-2016-12219
category: "Snacks & dessert"
industry: "Restaurants"
segment: "Snacks & dessert"
published: 2017-05-16T20:15:01.000Z
modified: 2026-11-01T04:10:14.379Z
image: https://newimage.1851franchise.com/cdn-cgi/image/quality=85,format=webp,width=1280,height=720/story/featureImage/fcf3d94332e173ccad5c8cf8e44d794a6432.jpg
---

# QSR Magazine: Dairy Queen Celebrates Record Year of Growth in 2016

**TL;DR:** Dairy Queen added 318 new locations globally in 2016, with 82 openings in the US, mostly DQ Grill & Chill model restaurants. The brand has improved its food business by 40% over five years and remodeled over 850 stores in the US and Canada in the past three years.

*originally published in 1851 Franchise on 2017-05-16. [Read the original](https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-dairy-queen-celebrates-record-year-of-growth-in-2016-12219).*

## Story

For a brand that has been successful for more than 75 years, the addition of 318 new Dairy Queen locations across the globe in 2016 shows impressive staying power.

In total, 82 locations opened in the U.S. in 2016 and nearly 100 percent of those were DQ Grill & Chill model restaurants. The brand has shifted its growth heavily to the QSR concept because of the high quality of product it is able to provide to fans.

“Our food business across the U.S. has improved plus 40 percent over five years. We definitely have a high-quality dessert product and we have a high-quality food product,” said Jim Kerr, executive vice president of development for US & Canada.

In addition to updating the menu and educating consumers about the DQ Grill & Chill concept, Dairy Queen has redesigned and readjusted the look of the brand at an aggressive pace. In the past three years, in the U.S. and Canada, Dairy Queen remodeled more than 850 stores. Kerr says that rapid rate is going to continue in upcoming years.

“We’re really given the opportunity to plan long-term,” he says. “We execute daily but we’re given the opportunity to look at where we want to be five years out, 10 years out, and we don’t open stores just to open stores. We have a real, high-quality perspective to opening restaurants so our franchisees are always successful.”

## Entities

- 1851 Franchise (publication)
- Restaurants (sector)
- unit expansion (topic)
- franchise success (topic)
- Dairy Queen (company)
- menu update (topic)
- brand redesign (topic)

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Originally reported by 1851 Franchise (https://1851franchise.com/qsr-magazine-dairy-queen-celebrates-record-year-of-growth-in-2016-12219). Summarized by Burnaze (https://burnaze.com/article/cbb58093-ef1e-47ce-ab10-83777f331b1d).