• Today there are nearly 6,000 Dairy Queen stores in the United States, Canada and in 20 foreign countries. Inside the United States, Texas has the most DQ stores, with over 600.
• Dairy Queen malts, milkshakes, banana splits and Dilly Bars were added to their menu in 1949, 1951 and 1955, respectively.
• The first Dairy Queen opened up in Joliet, Ill., in 1940.
• By the end of 1941, fewer than 10 Dairy Queen stores existed. In six short years, that number escalated to 100 stores in the United States.The conglomerate, International Dairy Queen, Inc., was bought by Berkshire Hathaway Inc. in early 1998.
• IDQ, Inc. also owns Orange Julius of America and Karmelkorn Shoppes, Inc. Company headquarters are in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
• Every Dairy Queen store is independently owned and operated. Therefore, the individual owners decide what their menu items will be, business hours, et cetera.
• DQ’s Soft Serve weighs in at a “”skinny”” 140 calories.
• The company has donated more than $44 million to the Children’s Miracle Network.

— associatedcontent.com