Last summer, Island landscaper Paul Beeson came home from work upset, with a cold Dairy Queen Blizzard in hand, expressing his want for a career change.
That was when his partner, Kirsten Anderson, told him she saw that the Dairy Queen was up for sale.
“It’s just a crazy chain of events that got us here,” Anderson told the Times recently at the eatery, months after buying the Edgartown business.
The frozen treats vendor at 242 Upper Main St. was purchased by Beeson and Anderson this past winter. The pair are partners in business and in life, and are planning to open up the shop on the first weekend in June.
Both Beeson and Anderson have been on the Island for more than 30 years, originally hailing from Ohio and Iowa, respectively. Anderson is an attorney, and Beeson works in landscaping, although he worked in the culinary industry for nearly 20 years before that.
“It’s kind of coming full circle,” Beeson said.
The two had been working on acquiring the business since last September, with the details coming together by mid-December.
While the original plan was to open on March 1, there turned out to be more hoops to jump through before the grand opening could occur. In particular, Dairy Queen’s corporate process to transfer ownership delayed the initial plans.
Some steps still remain until everything is wrapped up for the new owners. Beeson will be headed to Colorado on Sunday to receive training from Dairy Queen for three weeks. While he’s away, the Edgartown board of health will be reviewing the business.
“There’s a lot of coordination there,” Anderson said. This year will also be a test run for the business’ schedule and demand; they have preliminary plans to stay open until Christmas in Edgartown.
Still, the new business owners were excited to be hitting the ground running this summer, with aspirations to maintain it as a community space — from the first line of kids “bonkers for ice cream” to the students joining the eatery for their first job.
“Keeping that whole community aspect was very important to us,” Anderson said, pointing out that many people on the Island have been coming to the Dairy Queen since they were children.
Beeson said his sons go to Edgartown School, and they’re very excited about the Dairy Queen opening. He added that the cotton candy–flavored Blizzard, his older son’s favorite flavor, will be staying.
“To us, it’s a fun environment, and we’re going to keep it fun,” he said.
Additionally, the two will be running the eatery hands-on, so the Dairy Queen won’t be run by a “faceless owner.”
“It’s a new start for us,” Beeson said.
The first Dairy Queen was built on the Island in 1967 by Richard Brown, across the street from where the current DQ is located. The initial space was sold in 1983, and the Island went a decade without the popular ice cream, until Erika and Tony Bettencourt built another one in Edgartown at its present location. The business was sold to the Celeste family, who also own Rosewater, in 2017. It remains one of the few national chains on the Island.
“The Dairy Queen is iconic on the Island,” former Dairy Queen owner Christopher Celeste said, adding that almost everybody on the Island has a “Dairy Queen story.” “You know you’re dealing with a beloved institution, even though it’s just an ice cream shop.”
Neither party disclosed the final sale price, although Celeste said the business was sold for less than what his family purchased it for. Additionally, Celeste said the goal was to sell Dairy Queen to full-time Islanders who will be running the shop behind the counter.
“These two are going to be great owners,” he said.
Beeson and Anderson told the Times they did not hesitate going for the business, adding that being a franchise provided some security and comfort, since the Dairy Queen corporation provides support. Additionally, friends have been offering to help, and there will be returning staff.
Additionally, the new owners want to keep the Edgartown Dairy Queen as a “Vineyard icon,” where it currently stands. Also, similar to the previous owners, they want to contribute to on-Island organizations like the Boys & Girls Club and fire departments.
“We’re not looking to reinvent the wheel,” Beeson said. “We want to keep it the same, and hopefully enhance it in some ways.”