{"id":228586,"date":"2026-05-12T14:54:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:54:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/228586\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T14:54:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T14:54:10","slug":"dairy-queens-landmark-treats-only-location-changes-hands-for-4m-after-48-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/228586\/","title":{"rendered":"Dairy Queen’s landmark ‘treats only\u2019 location changes hands for $4m after 48 years"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"DairyDairy Queen is operating in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, on June 12, 2024. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd.\/NurPhoto via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

A BELOVED ice cream shop franchise has been purchased after nearly 50 years of serving the community.<\/p>\n

The longstanding \u201ctreats only\u201d Dairy Queen<\/a> in Middleboro, Massachusetts <\/a>has been sold, but the business will stay safely in the family.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\tSign up for the Money newsletter\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\tThank you!\n\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

Former owner George Pennini, who ran the business since 1978, sold the Dairy Queen<\/a> to his nieces, \u00a0Nicole Pennini Ferrara and Kara Pennini Kendrigan, and their spouses Mike Ferrara and Joe Kendrigan.<\/p>\n

This marks the third generation of Pennini\u2019s to own the shop.<\/p>\n

The Dairy Queen<\/a> was purchased originally in 1966 by John Pennini, who sold the business to his son George in 1978.<\/p>\n

\u201dWe\u2019re so thrilled to keep it in the family,\u2019\u2019 Pennini Ferrara said, according to Nemasket Week<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tRead more on Small Business\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

NEXT ADVENTURE<\/p>\n

End of the road for go-to spot for beer and food as 91-year-old store closes<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

LIGHTEN THE LOAD<\/p>\n

Family pulls in $9k a month doing laundry<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

The new owners report being honored and excited to carry on the family business<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge didn\u2019t just run a great business; he built a community landmark,\u201d Pennini Kendrigan added.<\/p>\n

\u201cGeorge set a standard of excellence that is known throughout the entire Dairy Queen system<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Although Dairy Queen has expanded<\/a> to a wide food and drink menu at its Grill & Chill locations, the Middleboro Dairy Queen has stayed true to its roots as a \u201ctreats only\u201d location, specializing in soft-serve ice cream<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are approximately 727 treat-only locations out of Dairy Queen\u2019s 7,700 total operations, according to The Takeout<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Most are found in malls or amusement parks \u2013 smaller spaces without commercial kitchen grills.<\/p>\n

Middleboro\u2019s Dairy Queen is the second most profitable treat center in the country, according to Camila Madera, public relations specialist for real estate brokerage firm Marcus and Millichap.<\/p>\n

The site is also a top performer in the country and the most popular Dairy Queen out of 30 Massachusetts locations based on foot traffic, Madera reported.<\/p>\n

The building and business, which stand on 0.75 acres and feature a double-lane drive-through, were sold by Pennini to his nieces for $4.2 million, according to Madera.<\/p>\n

The new owners credit some of the business success to Pennini\u2019s treatment of his staff, noting that the two most senior employees <\/a>have worked at the Dairy Queen for 27 and 20 years.<\/p>\n

They also look forward to maintaining community outreach, referencing their uncle\u2019s support of the St. Vincent de Paul Society and other local charitable organizations.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe intend to protect the traditions they built while ensuring the \u2018Middleboro DQ\u2019 remains a favorite destination for families for years to come,\u2019\u2019 Pennini Kendrigan said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a privilege to take the torch from him and lead this store into its next chapter,\u2019\u2019 she said.<\/p>\n

A massive Goodwill is taking over a longstanding indoor flea market<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Plus, a 91-year-old Central Florida convenience store, best known for its beer and live music, said a final farewell<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dairy Queen is operating in Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario, Canada, on June 12, 2024. (Photo by Creative Touch Imaging Ltd.\/NurPhoto…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":228587,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[37],"tags":[4843,8894,86861,9,24,63,122,124,123],"class_list":["post-228586","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-queens","tag-dairy-queen","tag-food-and-drink","tag-money-us","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-queens","tag-queens-headlines","tag-queens-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228586","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=228586"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/228586\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/228587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=228586"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=228586"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=228586"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}