Minnesota's oldest Dairy Queen is now for sale in Rochester, MN
Realty Growth
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By: Renee Berg
He’s too modest to ever say it, but let’s just put it out there: Tim Spratte and his family are legendary entrepreneurs.?
The owner of the North Broadway Dairy Queen – the oldest one in the state – Tim’s grandfather saw potential in this location dating back to 1946 and the family gradually grew the business year over year. Now, the iconic property is for sale as Tim and his family plan for retirement.?
The whole story started in 1946, when a salesman approached his grandfather LeRoy Spratte of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, with an opportunity. That was to jump on the bandwagon of soft serve ice cream. LeRoy was a grocer but decided to take a risk, and buy into the Dairy Queen evolution.
“My grandpa went to Illinois to meet the founder and ended up purchasing the franchise rights for three counties in Minnesota: Winona, Olmsted and Freeborn,” Tim said. “He decided to open a location in Rochester due to his familiarity with the city from his time as a Mayo Clinic patient. Fast forward to June 20, 1947, when Minnesota’s first DQ opened.”
Tim got his start working at the store at the early age of 8, he recalls, when he was in charge of cleaning up litter in the parking lot and emptying garbage cans for 25 cents an hour.
When his father Bob took over the business, he kept Tim on and upgraded him to “sanitation engineer,” Tim jokes. This meant the same duties with a better title, he recalls.
There was a time, he said, when he “couldn’t wait to get out of there.” But as he aged, he started to see the opportunity that was inherent in being a member of the Dairy Queen family.
“I purchased the store in 1996,” Tim said. “In the 27 years since, I’ve enjoyed having both my kids, and some siblings and nieces and nephews, as coworkers.”
“I’ve loved carrying on the family tradition of entrepreneurship and being a part of the Rochester community,” he said. “We’ve supported everything from schools to baseball teams and local charities through the years. My favorite night of the year, and Dairy Queen’s busiest, is July 4th.”
For many years, the city’s fireworks were centered around Silver Lake, and could be seen from the Broadway Dairy Queen’s parking lot. “So that’s a special memory of mine,” Tim said.
“I’ve loved running the Dairy Queen for decades, but it’s finally time to retire after almost 30 years in business,” he said. “I think a big piece of the sale is the opportunity is more then just the property, it's the opportunity to put multiple stores in a large area. The franchise footprint is quite large.”
The new owner will have a large swath of Rochester to expand within, which adds value to the sale. “When I first considered selling, I was going to shrink that area down a bit,” Tim said. “Then I started thinking, it’s a heck of a selling point.”
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The property and business could be purchased as one or the business could be purchased solely and a long term lease could be created for a buyer.?
The biggest news out of Dairy Queen’s history – at least during Tim’s tenure – was the introduction of blizzards. His store was the only one in Rochester to offer them on the menu.
“I think it was 1984 when that happened,” he said. “There were lines around the store and down the street. There was nothing like it.”
Typically, Tim’s DQ would open in early to mid April, but he thinks it won’t open for business this spring as it’s on the market for sale. But you never know, a new owner might scoop in and open it quickly.
“It’s been a good business for our family,” Tim said. “I think if you get some aggressive, ambitious operators in there, I think that business is really prime for expansion.”
The listing is proud to be presented by Rochester’s longest running commercial brokerage firm Realty Growth . The listing agent Bucky Beeman is excited to help a new buyer understand the opportunity and help them start a new chapter for the Rochester Dairy Queen. Feel free to email or call Bucky with any questions that you may have.?
507-289-8000?
Property listed by: Bucky Beeman
Article written by: Renee Berg
Photo credit including: Ron Wightman , John Patrick Becker , and Benjamin Zastrow
Wow! That's a Rochester landmark, a must go to place! Been there countless times.