Cold temps fail to bother DQ

Even on the heels of the polar vortex, which hit the Midwest in the last days of January, the Mt. Pleasant Dairy Queen opened its doors in early February.

'We always open the first week of February,” said Kara Herman, the manager for the location. 'Some of our loyal customers know when we're going to open so they look forward to that.”

Though temperatures have largely stayed below 40 degrees since opening, and the fact the Mt. Pleasant DQ doesn't serve hot food, Herman stated there have been people through every day since opening.

'It's kind of hit and miss,” she said. 'Some days it's just 20 customers, other days it's 40 an hour.”

Though business hasn't been good enough to consider staying open all through the winter. According to Herman, the owners tried that years ago but didn't have enough business to justify it. So, during those three months, the owners and managers have to make do.

'You kind of just have to hold on to what you make through the year though the winter,” said Herman. 'And a lot of our employees are high school and college students so it's nice, especially for the college students, for them to go home during Christmas without having to take time away from their job.”

Business is slower now than it typically is in the summer, so the location operates with about a third of its normal staff; a handful of people as opposed to 10 to 15.

As the year goes on, not only will the staff of the location grow, but so will the hours of operation.

'Today, since it's daylight saving time we're now staying open until 7,” she said. 'Then when it gets warmer it'll be 9 and then 10 and we'll need more (staff).”

Herman says she looks forward to the coming week as temperatures above 40 are consistently projected day to day.

According to Herman, most of the restaurant's business comes through the drive-thru, but there are still people walking up for their ice cream fix even in the colder weather.

Carlee Arnold and Rosey McVey are two such customers.

On Sunday March 10, the two came out for a twist cone, and an Orange Caesar and butterscotch dip cone, respectively. The 40-degree high of the weekend, may be better than the temperature of the past few weeks, but they're still in a sweater and a winter coat when they get out of the car to order their ice cream.

It's Arnold's first time getting ice cream for the year and McVey's second.

'It was colder (than today),” said McVey. 'It was open and I thought ‘Oh, hey, why not.'”

True to what Herman said: 'Some people don't care how cold it is.”