Big Chill Sign

 The old Dairy Queen sign in downtown Carbondale has been replaced with a brand spankin' new Big Chill neon sign. The plan is to light it up for the first time this Saturday, before the Lights Fantastic parade starts.

Too Much Open Space

 I was talking with another retailer and we both agreed that downtown Carbondale, among other problems, has too much open space. Not green space, which would be fine, but parking space, which is rather suprising given the compaints I have seen about the lack of parking in downtown. I think more the complaint is the lack of "free" parking in downtown. 

The north end of the Strip is separated from the south end but a large stretch of parking. Walk past Old Town Liquors and you have Big Chill nee Dairy Queen sitting alone in the middle of a comparatively large parking area before getting to the Varsity Center. On the other side of the street, one you pass Pag's Pizza, there is parking, then the Amtrak Station, then more parking before reaching Walnut.

Once Booby's reopens, that will help matters some as it will help pull customers from the south end towards the north, but that is still a whole lot of empty space for potential customers to walk past.

Big Chill

Should be getting a new neon sign for downtown's Big Chill, to replace the removed Dairy Queen sign. The new one uses font very similar, though not identical, to the removed sign. Plans are to have it in place by October.

Big Chill

 The renamed and revamped Dairy Queen, now named "Wazo's Big Chill" reopened this past Friday and crowds have been good so far. Both times I drove by there were people sitting on the wall along S. Illinois and a line of people at the window. 

I expect Big Chill to do much better than the relaunch of El Greco some years ago. Despite the long lines of people waiting to get into El Greco when it announced it was closing, and then again when it re-opened, there was never enough demand for the restaurant's menu to keep customers coming back multiple times. Ditto for Mississippi Flyway. Despite the lamentations upon its closure, people did not eat there often enough to keep it open.

Dairy Queen/Big Chill does not have that problem. The restaurant did not close because of lack of demand but because the franchisor yanked the license. The DQ's biggest problem was always finding enough staff to operate. Barring a major change in the menu, (Blizzards will have to have a different name as that is a DQ trademark), Big Chill should remain successful.

DQ Reopening

 The Downtown Dairy Queen will reopen tomorrow as the "Big Chill".  Hours are 1 p.m. to 10 p.m. Hoping they get a new neon sign on the roof to replace the old one.

Big Chill

 According to this FB post, the shuttered Dairy Queen will be reopening under the name Big Chill. Likely looking at re-opening before the fall semester at SIUC begins

Dairy Queen

 Looks as if the plans to reopen the Dairy Queen under another name are moving ahead. The parking lot for the building is closed today for sealcoating

Dairy Queen

 If you want to get a photo of the illumniated Dairy Queen sign one last time, the owner said he would turn it on between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on May 31. Lst chance before, barring a change of heart at corporate headquarters, it goes dark forever.

Dairy Queen Closed

 Downtown Dairy Queen has closed effective immediately. No problem with the business as it was finacially sound. After disagreements with the franchisee,Joe Waicukauski,  on the way the store should be the national company decided not to renew the franchise agreement. From what I understand, for a number of years, the national company had been pushing Waichkauski to expand the selection to burgers, fries and other hot foods and to add a drive through, following the Chill & Grill model at most other DQs. This would increase sales, and hence the size of the franchise fees paid to the company.

As long as Waichkauski held the DQ franchise for the Carbondale area, no store using the Chill & Grill model could open up in the community. Now Dairy Queen is free to accept franchisees that it feels will generate more revenue for the company. 

The company forced a similarly operated DQ in Morton Ill. to close earlier this year, after 72 years in operation. Other walk up operations in Illinois and Florida have closed this year as well.

Carbondale did have a Chill & Grill format DQ at one time. Located on the west side of town, it closed down well over a decade ago, with a used car dealership most recently occupying the building. If someone was to put in a DQ franchise like the national company wants, it would most likely locate on the more heavily trafficed east side of town.

Here is a link to more background on the closure.

Dairy Queen

 In a sure sign of spring for Carbondale, the downtown Dairy Queen has opened for the season. I have already seen short lines for delicious soft serve.

Dairy Queen

 A Carbondale tradition ends for the year this Sunday. The Downtown Dairy Queen closes for the season on Nov. 13. given than the 80 degree weather will give way to 50 F weather tomorrow, that sounds as if they have timed it right.

Dairy Queen

 In a sign of spring coming to Carbondale and southern Illinois, the downtown Carbondale Dairy Queen reopened this past Saturday.

Dairy Queen

 Dairy Queen closes for the year today so if you want to partake of a Carbondale tradition, do it today, even though it is quite brisk or wait until likely next February.

DQ Robbed

 Heard that the downtown Dairy Queen got broken into and both cash registers stolen. Hope there was no cash in the drawers. General retail operating procedure is, unless you are open 24 hours a day, to pull cash out of the drawer at close and lock it up, putting it back in the register the next day.

Dairy Queen

 The downtown Carbondale Dairy Queen will close for the season today, likely around 9 p.m. Likely will reopen in late February.

Dairy Queen Open

Well, it is spring time again in Carbondale. The Dairy Queen opened yesterday for the 2nd time this year.

Dairy Queen

Harbinging the arrival of spring and consistently warmer temperatures in the near future, the downtown Dairy Queen opened for the 2020 season this weekend.

Dairy Queen

In case you would like one more fix of Dairy Queen soft serve, today, Nov. 17, is the last day in 2019 to get any as the stand will close for the winter today. The store still has bags of sandwiches and bars on sale and has bags of 6 orange Dilly Bars on special for $4.

DQ Season Closing

Last day of the year for the Downtown Dairy Queen will probably be Saturday Nov. 10. At least, I was told today they will shut down for the year in 10 days, so November 10th makes sense. Get your delicious DQ soft serve while you can and remember, you save 10% if you present a recent receipt from a downtown restaurant.

DQ Helping El Greco

In case you hadn't heard, El Greco's recently re-opened under new management and the downtown Dairy Queen has a sign up offering 15% off the purchase their when you show a receipt from El Greco's