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More DQ franchisees join lawsuit

February 21, 2008

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Dairy Queen franchisees are being joined in a lawsuit against Berkshire Hathaway Inc.-owned International Dairy Queen by three other regional franchisee associations — representing franchisees in Arizona, West Virginia, Ohio, Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Missouri and Illinois.

The Michigan Dairy Queen Operators Association filed suit in January against American Dairy Queen and its parent company in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. The franchisees are asking the court to prevent International Dairy Queen from forcing them to convert their stores to the new DQ Grill & Chill or DQ/Orange Julius concepts. To convert an existing Dairy Queen to the Grill or OJ options could cost from $275,000 to $450,000, the lawsuit said.

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