Minneapolis-based The Dairy Queen, part of Berkshire Hathaway, opened the doors to its 500th location in China, one of the company’s strongest international markets.
The chain opened its first location there in 1991 in Beijing. Its newest restaurant is in the Hu Dong finance district in Shanghai and is operated by Shanghai Shida Catering Management Company, which manages more than 350 Dairy Queen locations throughout southern and eastern China.
“With the world's fastest growing major economy, China continues to be a tremendous expansion market for the Dairy Queen system and we attribute that in large part to strong alliances with our development partners here, including Shanghai Shida Catering,” says John Gainor, president and ceo of International Dairy Queen Inc. “It is a real honor for my team and me to be here for the opening of our 500th store in China.”
Of the 271 Dairy Queen locations opened during 2011, 131 were in China.