Bankrupt Dairy Queen to Close 30 Locations

More than 30 locations of ice cream and fast-food chain Dairy Queen will soon close in north Texas, Oklahoma, and New Mexico. The closures come after a recent bankruptcy filing by franchisee Vasari, LLC—which owns 70 Dairy Queen locations and is the second largest franchisee of the chain in the United States. All three locations in the region known as “Big Country” Texas were reported closed as of Monday morning. “While certain of the [Vasari’s] stores are profitable,” an emergency motion filed in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding stated, “[Vasari] as a whole is facing net operating losses that cannot continue unabated.” While outdated chains such as Dairy Queen struggle to survive, vegan franchises continue to expand internationally, including California-based cinnamon roll bakery Cinnaholic, which announced a 70-location expansion to Canada this week.