Bentonville's new Dairy Queen opened recently but without the fanfare the brand typically creates when it moves to town.
With the covid-19 pandemic still in full swing, franchisees Terry and Aimee Sims, wanted to keep the hoopla to a minimum to avoid the crowds and lines that typically come hand-in-hand with opening a new Dairy Queen restaurant.
"We normally have people lined up out to the street," Aimee Sims said in a recent phone interview. "We toned things down with public safety in mind."
The new Dairy Queen opened at the end of November and is at 1302 SE Walton Blvd.
The Grill and Chill restaurant will serve customers daily through its drive-thru and in its dining room with limited capacity in line with the state's covid-19 guidelines. Aimee Sims said the restaurant is the first in the state of the company's new Grill and Chill design. It will employ about 40 workers, about 10 fewer than when staffing in times before covid-19.
Sims said the location's drive-thru business has been busy, adding that customers can also have food delivered though services like DoorDash, and have food ready for pickup through the Dairy Queen app.
Including the Bentonville spot, Terry and Aimee Sims, own six Dairy Queen locations in Northwest Arkansas, two in Fayetteville and one each in Springdale, Siloam Springs and Farmington. They also have five stores in Alabama.
Aimee Sims said the couple plans to open 15 Dairy Queen locations in Northwest Arkansas, including restaurants in the Fort Smith area. She said they expect to invest between $25 million and $27 million. The Simses plan to open a Dairy Queen in Centerton next.
In the summer of 2016, Dairy Queen said it was making a push into Arkansas. There are 30 Dairy Queen locations in the state and 27 of those are Grill and Chill restaurants. A building permit for a Dairy Queen Grill and Chill was recently filed for a location in west Little Rock.
Dairy Queen rebranded many of its stores in recent years, updating its image and dubbing the new operations "Grill & Chill Restaurants" to better compete in the quick-service dining segment. The Grill and Chill restaurants feature booths, large wooden tables and upbeat music.
American Dairy Queen Corp. is a franchisor with more than 7,000 locations across the globe, according to the company. Its parent company is privately held International Dairy Queen Inc., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc.
The Associated Press reported Wednesday that the White House Coronavirus Task Force had warned that the risk to all Americans from covid-19 is at a historic high and that Arkansas in late November ranked 24th in the nation in the number of new cases per capita. The panel again recommended that restaurants in the state limit indoor dining to less than 25% capacity, a proposal Gov. Asa Hutchinson has previously rejected.
On Thursday, the number of covid-19 cases in Arkansas rose by 2,789, a new one-day high. In Arkansas 164,310 people have been diagnosed with covid-19 since the pandemic began. There were 33 new covid-19 deaths reported Thursday, bringing the total number of state deaths from the virus to 2,555.
According to Bruce Grindy, chief economist for the National Restaurant Association, the industry's sales recovery stumbled in October. Citing data from the U.S. Census Bureau, he noted that in October sales at eating and drinking places stood at $55.6 billion on a seasonably adjusted basis, down from $55.7 for the month before and the first decrease since the spring lockdowns.
"October's sales decline is a troubling sign for the industry, as the month likely included some of the last opportunities for outdoor dining in many parts of the country," Grindy wrote in mid-November. "Factoring in the indoor dining restrictions that are currently being reimposed in some jurisdictions, it becomes clear that the winter months will represent an extremely challenging period for restaurants that rely on on-premises business."
He noted that between March and October, eating and drinking places have lost nearly $175 billion in projected sales, based on unadjusted data. Grindy said the total projected loss in restaurant and food service sales, which includes non-restaurant food services spending, will likely reach $215 million over the past eight months.
Aimee Sims said the lessons learned at their other restaurants during the covid-19 pandemic made opening the Bentonville location easier, but it was still a challenge. She said she's cautiously optimistic about the future but added that the couple is prepared to deal with any unexpected turns the virus might bring.
She said demand for Dairy Queen's ice cream, other frozen treats and grilled burgers has been good as consumers seek food they consider safe and satisfying.
"Who doesn't want an ice cream at the end of a hard day?" Sims asked. "It's good comfort food."
She added that the couple plans to run the typical sales and promotions that draw customers by the droves once the pandemic is under control and it's safe for customers to gather in large numbers.
"It's just not the right thing to do now," Sims said.