Why did Dairy Queen close in Alaska? What we know

Like most of the restaurant industry, the ice cream shop sector is facing hard times.

The popular ice cream chain Dairy Queen’s franchisees have shuttered at least 46 locations nationwide since early 2025, with the most recent closure occurring at the end of June.

The company’s franchisee shuttered three Dairy Queen locations in Alaska – Wasilla, Anchorage and Palmer – on June 30 without providing a reason, according to Anchorage Daily News.

As a result, only one Dairy Queen location remains in Alaska, and that’s in Soldotna.

“The franchise owner of the Anchorage, Wasilla, and Palmer locations recently closed them,” a Dairy Queen chain official told the Anchorage Daily News in an email Thursday. Dairy Queen did not provide the owner’s name or a reason for the closures.

The Alaska closures came weeks after a Dairy Queen in Great Falls, Montana shuttered its location on June 13, ending 39 years of operation.

The former owner, Steve Galloway, planned to convert the site into a Mediterranean restaurant called Zesty Eatz, according to KRTV3.

“Our goal is to bring something fresh and exciting to Great Falls,” Galloway said. “We want Zesty Eatz to be a place where families, students, and working professionals can enjoy great food, unique drinks, and outstanding customer service in a welcoming atmosphere.”

In February 2025, a Dairy Queen franchisee shut down 30 restaurants in Texas due to a dispute with the parent company. The next month, 12 more locations went dark over the same dispute, according to the Austin American-Statesman.

Dairy Queen pulled the franchises from franchisee Project Lonestar after it failed to remodel Dairy Queen’s restaurants. As a result, locations couldn’t order supplies from the parent company, TheStreet reported.