IDQ International History

DQ® Journey Around the World

•1940 The first Dairy Queen® opens in Joliet, IL, USA. The price of a cone is $.05!

•1947 The 100th DQ opens; by the end of the decade there are over 1,400 stores!

•1951 Banana Splits appear on the menu

•1953 The first International store opens in Canada

•1955 The "Dilly" Bar debuts

•1958 DQ arrives in Central America with stores in Panama

•1961 DQ has presence in ten different countries and 4 continents!

•1962 International Dairy Queen, Inc. (IDQ) is formed

•1976 Over 75 stores are operating outside of the US and Canada

•1979 The DQ system debuts in the Middle East.

•1985 Marks the birth of Dairy Queen’s star product, The Blizzard® Treat

•1987 The Dairy Queen family expands with the addition of Orange Julius® and the OJ/DQ Treat Center® is born

•1991 China’s first DQ opens in Beijing

•1996 Thailand welcomes DQ

•2004 DQ celebrates its 50th store in Mexico

•2004 The first DQ Grill & Chill Restaurant opens outside of North America, in Bahrain!

•2005 The first DQ Orange Julius store opens in Shanghai, China

•2007 Thailand opens its 200th DQ location

•2007 China opens its 100th DQ location