Photo: Shari Small / WBZ NewsRadio
MANCHESTER, N.H. (WBZ NewsRadio) — A comeback story out of Manchester, New Hampshire melted the hearts of many and pushed the local Dairy Queen's sales to the number one spot in the country, to the joy of its general manager.
WBZ's Shari Small spoke to General Manager Kevin Dion about the accomplishment, something he says was a longtime coming for the business his retired father began 50 years ago.
"I can finally tell my dad: 'we are number one,' Dion said.
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In 2021, the DQ location on Second Street came close to securing the title, coming in as second place in overall sales. Days before New Year's Day 2023, when the sales for 2022 would be tallied, Dion says they saw a surge in business namely because of a social media movement he launched online to bring the Manchester store to the top.
"I had mentally conceded that we would again finish second. Monday it was busy, Tuesday it was really busy, Wednesday it was really, really busy, and on Thursday I said to my dad: 'you know what, dad? I don't think we're giving up just yet," Dion said.
The N.H. store was neck and neck with another DQ in Georgia all the way up the buzzer. Then when all the sales were counted just minutes after midnight, it became official that the Manchester Dairy Queen had come out on top with its sudden blizzard of sales. Dion says he changed the LED sign outside the restaurant to read "Dad...we are finally #1."
"We needed to pull out a day busier than any day we've had in history. It was a thirty-car line in our drive-thru and a guy put his window down and his kids said 'Kevin, we're here for you and your dad, we're going to make your number one, we're here for Manchester— we're beating Georgia," Dion said.
WBZ's Shari Small (@ShariSmallNews) reports.
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