To much anticipation, Livonia will welcome its first Dairy Queen in years with a new franchise on slate to open Friday at 33351 Plymouth Road.
The treat shop is situated in a former Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken shack within the Shelby Park Village shopping center.
It represents the first fast-casual franchise for Nick and Ron Ritts, the driving force behind the award-winning Ritts Hospitality group. The father-and-son business team have spent the past two decades building five full-service restaurants in metro Detroit from the ground up. The duo also own a pizzeria in South Beach, Miami.
Now the Ritts join the DQ chain, which boasts over 7,000 locations in 20 different countries worldwide.
“If it wasn’t Dairy Queen, I wouldn’t be doing it,” Nick Ritts said in a news release issued this week by company spokespersons. “There’s no other brand that ever hit my heart the way that Dairy Queen does. It resonates with so many people and simply makes them happy, and that’s what the restaurant business is all about.”
The DQ will be of Dairy Queen’s flagship Grill and Chill variety with a drive-thru and outdoor patio. It will be clustered among the shopping center’s other storefronts, which include Rite Aid, Jimmy John’s and the Larry’s Foodland grocery store.
The Minneapolis-based franchise is a household brand, beloved for its mouthwatering meals and tasty sweets. In addition to soft-serve treats like the cones, sundaes and signature Blizzards, Dairy Queen serves lunch and dinner options like chicken strip baskets and StackBurgers.
“We look forward to bringing Dairy Queen to the Livonia community and can’t wait to build a loyal fanbase that loves the brand as much as we do,” Ritts said.
