7 Dairy Queens to open in part of Arkansas

FILE — Brooks Montgomery works on a piece of steel at the Dairy Queen Grill & Chill in Farmington.
FILE — Brooks Montgomery works on a piece of steel at the Dairy Queen Grill & Chill in Farmington.

A franchisee will open seven Dairy Queen operations in the Northwest Arkansas area, with the first expected to open in Springdale by May.

Aimee Sims of Alabama, said Monday she, along with her husband Terry, plan on investing $12 million to $15 million on the total deal. Plans are for two Dairy Queen locations in Fort Smith, with one each in Van Buren, Rogers, Springdale, Siloam Springs, and Tontitown. The couple already operate two Dairy Queen stores, both in Alabama.

Sims said plans call for the Springdale restaurant, in a yet to be determined location, to be finished between April and May with a second location in a yet to be decided city up and running by September. She said there are letters of intent for several locations but the deals haven't been finalized yet.

All the locations will be Dairy Queen Grill and Chill operations. Sims said she'd like to eventually open up to 15 locations in Northwest Arkansas.

In August 2016, Dairy Queen said it would like to see 20 locations in Northwest Arkansas.

-- John Magsam

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